Ratchet & Clank: After The Great Clock
by Ratchet Soulraven
Summary: Ratchet is hunted down through the galaxy, trying to avoid pain, torture and death, and not always succedding. This gory, scary, and painful adventure might be Ratchet's last, but he has found one person he never in his life ever thought he would meet.
1. The Beginning

This takes place after the Great Clock, and I would love it if you all reviewed it

Thank you!

Reviews are what makes the world go round!

Also, keep a sharp eye out for refs to other media!

* * *

Little was said as they flew away from the great clock, Ratchet was glad to have Clank with him of course, but at the same time he felt hollow inside, Alister's death had a greater affect on him then he let Clank know, he was the closest thing he had to a father, and now he was gone forever, it was a depressing thought, and Ratchet felt sad and empty.

'No.' he thought, 'This is not the thoughts to be dwelling on right now, Nefarious is dead, I have Clank with me for the first time in ages, I should be happy, and besides Clank doesn't want to know that I'm thinking this, he wouldn't understand.'

'So where are we headed?' Clank asked, looking at Ratchet, looking for the answer.

Ratchet sighed. 'I don't know, home probably.'

Clank sensed something was wrong, so he asked Ratchet, 'You miss him, don't you?'

Ratchet knew that there was no point in lying to his best friend, and besides, friends don't lie to each other.

But occasionally, they do.

'Yeah, I do miss him, he's the only Lombax I ever knew, and the last Lombax in the whole galaxy, so it's no surprise that I'm upset about him dying.'

Ratchet had no idea that something he said was not true, and there was something he didn't know, but that was not known to him, not yet anyway.

'We all go someday,' Clank said, staring at his Lombax friend. 'We all perish, we all disappear, leaving only our work and memories in the mind of others behind, it's all going to happen to everyone, one day you will die, not for hundreds of years, but you will go someday, I will be shut down as well, we all will, and the best we can do when we are alive is live life well, and leave positive memories in the mind of others behind, and when we do die, we are remembered well. If only we could live forever, no wars, no fighting, peace and happiness, living forever would be something to be desired by many.'

Ratchet listened to his friend's speech, while popular song played on the radio softly, somehow adding to the emotion that was building up in the ship, he knew what Clank said was true, but he just didn't think that he could fully grasp the fact that Alister was gone, and he was the only Lombax left, the savior of the broken, one who defeated villains plans that they had made. What had Alister said to him one day? 'One day, I'll leave you, and I'll be a mere phantom of you, and you will be leading the universe into peace, never forget that, son. Never, never must you forget that.'

He had called Ratchet his son, remembering that, he felt his chest tighten, Alister had set a path for him, and he was going to follow it and finish it, if there was one thing he could do for respect his passing wish, it was that, and he would do it, for Alister, for his father, and the Lombaxes.

'Well I've got you, I almost lost you, and you mean everything to me, and I am just happy that you're here with me, and nothing could make up for your presence, absolutely nothing.

Clank noticed the Lombax shake slightly while he said this, and he suspected that Ratchet missed Alister, but he was letting him, go, or at least trying to.

Ratchet steered the ship well, he veered to the right, away from the direction of an asteroid that was heading towards him.

'Every time I got in this ship while you were gone, and looked the at empty seat, and thought you, and knew that I would find you again. I had my heart set on it, and my work paid off,' Ratchet said suddenly, and then, 'I missed you buddy, I really did.'

Clank smiled. 'Thank you, Ratchet for coming after me.' Then he said, 'Do you have any injures or pain from our "adventure"?'

'We certainly get ourselves into scrapes don't we?'

Ratchet smiled his Lombaxian grin, 'And we get out as well eh?'

Clank looked down on his metallic hands. 'Yeah.'

They didn't say anything for a while, just glad of each others' company, just glad to be alive, escaping once again from the jaws of death.

Then suddenly Clank said, 'You should call Talwyn, she be wanting to know how you are.'

Ratchet nodded uncertainly, ' I will, she'll kill me if I don't call and tell her were alive.'

'Well you won't be alive for long if she finds out you aren't calling her.'

As Ratchet brought up his contact list, he felt a pull in steering, like some force was pulling his ship towards to the source.

'What's the matter with this thing?' Ratchet exclaimed, 'Blasted, infernal….'

'Unknown force detected, proceed with caution,' said the ship in its bland voice.

'What the heck is this thing?' Ratchet exclaimed as he steered the ship away from the invisible force, but it was futile as the ship kept being sucked into the invisible source of unknown power.

Ratchet looked outside the window, and looked scared, even more scared then when him and Clank watched Sore XXXVIII one night, and Ratchet wasn't the sort of person who scared easily, thing meant that whatever was outside, it was something not good, and not good at all.

'What is it, Ratchet, something bad?' Clank asked, 'What's wrong?'

'Agorian Battleplex, the place where Qwark was captured, and I had to bail him out, and now they're sucking the ship in, well I'm not giving up without a fight, that's for sure!' Ratchet wrestled with the controls, hoping that they would be able to avoid being sucked in, but it was hopeless,a dn they both knew it, but Ratchet was going to give up without an fight, even though he knew it was fruitless, he didn't want to feel that he had submitted, he never let go.

'That's why he is, what he is today,' Clank thought, 'And why I'm not in Nefarious' clutches, and why I'm still alive.'

Clank thought about this while Ratchet swore and tried to bring the ship under control.

They were coming closer to the ship now, almost there, the Aphileon was being sucked in with incredible force.

'I'm not going to give up without a fight Clank,' Ratchet said, as Clank looked into his eyes as saw something he had never seen before.

The look of a person who will do anything, even kill everyone mercilessly to survive.

The look scared him.

At least he was on his side.


	2. The Torture Chamber

Chapter 2.

As the ship was sucked into the landing dock, Ratchet reached for his arsenal and fusion bombs, he would need them.

He opened the hatch, stepping outside, monitoring every passage way, and every ship.

Suddenly the door opened, and the owner of the Battleplex, Mac, walked in, along with 3 huge Agorians, they walked up to Ratchet.

'Well kid, how ya doin'? It's been a while, and I….'

'Why did you suck my ship in?' Ratchet interrupted curtly, 'I have better things to do then deal with this!'

'We wanted to know if you'd like to complete in our new tournament, and the prizes are huge, and we know that you won it last time, do wanna try it out?'

'The only reason I did it last time, was because of Clank, now, it don't give a Fongiod's a…'

'What'da sayin' kid?' Mac had changed his tone completely. 'So, you aren't gonna fight?'

'What part of "no" don't you understand?' Ratchet was in a bad mood because he had to deal with this, which wasn't what he had planned. 'I'm not fighting, got that?'

Mac laughed sardonically, 'You think you got a choice kid?'

Ratchet felt his fur stiffen, he had sensed danger.

A moment later, more Agorinas came into the dock, and they seized Ratchet and Clank, taking them in opposite directions.

'Immobilize the bot, and take the Lombax to the torture containment cell, I'll talk with him in a moment,' Mac said.

'No, I'm not letting you go Clank, never.' But Ratchet wasn't strong enough, and he was seized by every limb, and he couldn't escape.

They half dragged him, after carried him to a small room with a metal table with bindings on it, standing up with wires attached to it, and a small computer.

Without a word, the Agorinas slammed Ratchet against the table, securing the metal straps over him.

They went over his ankles, wrists, elbows, chest, waist, legs, and arms, so when they were done, he couldn't even move a single centimeter, and there was no chance of him getting out.

Ratchet struggled anyway for all he was worth, never giving up, never giving them the satisfaction of seeing him their prisoner.

The metal table's coldness seeped into his body, and the metal straps felt cold against his body.

Presently Mac came in, seeing him strapped down nodded, satisfied with his minions' work.

'Ah, Ratchet, always getting in trouble, always….'

Ratchet interrupted him, spitting out a swear word, and then, 'What have you done to me, what have I done to you, you son of a….'

Mac looked in the direction of the Techariod sitting at the small computer, he pressed a button on the machine, and Ratchet knew what it did, it have him a shock, the table was wired to electricity, he wondered who else was tied down here.

'I don't like to be insulted kid, never, got that? Anyway, you're here because you refused to cooperate, you refuse to fight in the battle, so that's why a little torture can help you make your mind up.'

Ratchet swore at him again, spitting out the ugly word, and regretted it at once, as he felt himself being shocked again, this time, even stronger, and he yelled out in severe pain, when it went he lost his breath, and was panting heavily.

'Now you have three options kid, option 1: remain strapped down here and tortured, with more and more weapons and torture elements than before until you break. Option 2: You go through option 1 for a month, then are placed in the arena, still tied to the table, and you won't be released, in fact, you'll die on the table. Option 3: You agree and you fight in the arena, and if you win the whole tournament, we'll let you go, so what's it gonna be?'

Ratchet said, 'Fine, I'll fight, I'll do your game.' He knew that he wouldn't be in the arena at all, he would escape before that.

'I thought so kid, see ya tomorrow,' Mac smiled as he closed the door behind him, and walked out.

'Wha, What? You're gonna leave me here, strapped down overnight?' Ratchet and no idea how he would survive through the night, being tortured like this, he yelled out, and continued his pointless struggling.

* * *

I didn't know how I would survive the night, being strapped to this cold metal table and deprived off sleep, the cold got through my suit, and there was nothing I could do about it.

The metal restraints that went over my wrists and arms hurt the most, the pain was almost too much to bear, and every time I moved, or even tried to move, the straps hurt me again.

I had always wanted to know what it was like to get strapped down and tortured, I always wanted to have the experience, I thought it would be fun, when I when tied to the asteroid by Nefarious, it wasn't really the true experience.

But this was, and I can't believe how foolish I was to think that it would be fun to be strapped down, it hurt so much I didn't know what to think or do, and it wasn't fun either.

Clank was taken from me again, how could I let that happen? It was all my fault, I had just saved him, and now he was taken again, after all my hard work, he was gone again. I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but I was in no position to wipe them away, and even if my body wasn't strapped to a metal table by at least 20 restraints, I wouldn't have wiped them away anyway. They were black tears, tears of hate, tears of vengeance, I would make them pay, I would make them suffer for what they did. Not exactly something to be encouraged in a young Lombax, but did I care? No, I didn't, I would have the last word, I would kill them all.

But now, all I needed to think about, was how I would be able to go through this mess, and how I would survive the night, and it wasn't going to be easy.

I screamed out in utter pain and hate, and there was nothing that could stop me, even though the straps held me in place, I wasn't going to give up.

Never.


	3. The Escape

Let's see what happens to Ratchet now.

I had the idea of making a first person view, due to the fact that my name is Ratchet, it would be interesting!

* * *

Chapter 3.

Ratchet had no idea how he had survived the night, no idea at all, he had never been more uncomfortable, more restrained, he had always wanted to know what it was like to be strapped down like this, to know that you were at the mercy of others with no chance of escape, he thought it would be fun, be amusing.

Well he was wrong, he was stupid, he was never going to deceive himself with that lie again, and he would get out of this mess, and imbed his wrench in Mac's head.

He yelled out, he swore, he had hysterics, he tried to throw himself off the table, he couldn't, he could do nothing at all, nothing.

Just today he had saved the great clock, rescued Clank, and escaped with his life from Nefarious' space station. Now he was a prisoner on a Battleplex, with no hope at all.

Somehow he fell asleep, he had no strength to continue struggling, and he had no idea what time it was when the prison door opened and two Agorinas came in.

Ratchet was hoping that they would untie him, and he could somehow make his escape, instead they wheeled his table over to a big gaping hole that led to the arena.

They tossed in a few weapons for him to use, and then without warning, his straps were all undone at the same time, and he fell into the hole.

He slid down unable to stop, he noticed that they through a Plasma Striker and a Mag-Net, he also has his Constructo Moded Arsenal, so things were looking okay.

He arrived at the bottom of the tunnel in a rough landing, rubbing his head against the metal floor.

His steps were still uneasy after being held in one position for so long, but he managed to take some steady steps forward.

He had to get out of here, he had to rescue Clank, he couldn't just leave him alone with them, and they would pay for what they did, severely, very severely.

He knew that he would get out of here, for a few reasons, one, he was much faster than the Agorians were, two, he had more weapons than they thought he did, and reason three, he would cheat.

The smile died on his lips as he heard a roar of an Agorian, he had to escape.

He had an idea, he could hover boot, up the tunnel in which he came in, why didn't he think of it before.

Fear, fear took over everything, and it didn't let you go until it had terrified you silly.

Maybe that worked with others, but not him, not him especially.

He turned around an hover booted up the thin tunnel, hoping he would have enough speed to get out, if not, it was a long way down.

Higher, higher, he kept climbing, until he burst out of the top.

There was no one around, which suited him fine, he turned off his hover boots and got out his Plasma Striker switching to scope mode just in case.  
He ran towards the containment cells for robots, hoping Clank was there.

'Cell 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83,' Ratchet muttered to himself as he passed along the cells,'84, 85, 86, 87, there!'

He saw the cell 88 was occupied by a sleeping Clank, and went over to it, to press the button which would set him free and jolt him awake, before he could he heard a voice, 'I knew you'd do it kid, always gotta Plan B, don't ya, well, you won't need any plans much longer.'

Ratchet knew that voice well enough, he turned to see Mac standing in the doorway, with a huge Agorian by his side.

'He's all yours, Jake.' Jake? No wonder he looked angry.

The agorian didn't have any weapons, instead, he snatched Ratchet's wrench off him and used it to force him to the floor by his neck.

'You're going to start seeing things that aren't there, hearing strange things, recognizing fake faces, then you'll came back to reality, where you are suffering more pain than you have known, you'll lungs will burst, you'll voice will go, and you'll have no air to breathe, and then die, Ratchet, you're going on a slow journey to hell!' These words came from the Agorian, who had a soft voice, almost touching, nearly hypnotizing. 'You're going on a slow journey to hell.'

Then Ratchet said, 'Let me know what's it's like.'

He brought up his Plasma striker, and fired a single burst the Agorian's eye.

The effect was stronger than he expected, the Agorian's head was blown off and sailed 20 meters in the air, where it hit Mac and blew him backwards.

Ratchet then got up groggily, and started running to Clank's cage, where he unlocked it, and grabbed Clank out of there.

'Hold on, buddy, we're almost outta here.' Ratchet was speaking the words more for himself than for Clank, he was just hoping that they would make it out of the Battleplex in one piece.

He gritted his teeth. This was going to one hell of a battle.

'Where is he?' Mac screamed throwing a small bronze statue at an Agorian, a foolish thing to do. 'You will find him, and you will not kill him, harm him as much as you like, but if he dies by let's say, a punch to the stomach, or a gunshot, you might as well stick a gun inside your mouth as well, because he means everything to me. So capture him, and place him in the major torture chamber, not the minor one like last time, he's going to feel pain now!'

Ratchet ran as fast as he could to his ship, not even looking behind for a second, he had remembered the torture that he went through, and wasn't going to go through it again, not if he could help it.

He ran to his ship, opened the hatch, and through himself in, and started the engine as twenty Agorians came into the ship hanger.

At the last minute before taking off, Ratchet through a bomb in the hangar, with a ten second fuse.

He took off, not waiting to see what would happen.

When he was clear, he noticed that his bomb destroyed every ship in the hangar, so no one would be coming after him anytime soon.

Clank was still recharging, so it would be a while before he woke up.

'Warning, warning, seatbelt undone, would you like me to force you to wear it Ratchet?'

'Alright, man I forgot how insistent you are about that.'

The Aphleion chuckled, 'It's good to see you to Ratchet.'

Ratchet had set coordinates to Talwyn's ship, he decided he wasn't going to call her yet, he was going to make it a surprise for her, he hoped it wouldn't be a surprise for him due to her reaction of him not calling her.

* * *

A few hours later:

I had explained to Clank everything that happened, it took me a while, I was knackered from my sleepless night bound to the table, why am I always the one who gets strapped down? He asked Clank this, and he had merely replied, 'Because you look for trouble, and you're a smart mouth, but I wouldn't have you any other way, Ratchet.'

I smiled at this, Clank could always turn my emotions around, and I loved him for it.

I parked the ship at Talwyn's, I got out of the ship, and knocked on the door, hoping that I would get a tongue lashing for her.

I got something unexpected.

The door opened, and I was yanked inside, Clank too, and then a voice said, 'It's about time you got here isn't it?'

* * *

Ratchet Ravenheart.


	4. Talwyn

I would like it if you wrote some more feedback about my stories, I am not receiving enough. If you enjoy this literature, please say so, I love excellent feedback!

* * *

Chapter 4.

'It's about time you got here isn't it? I'm starving here, and I would love to know why you're late again, for your mental sake you better have a good excuse, I was going to start eating the cutlery!'

'Talwyn?' Ratchet asked, attempting to see her face in the darkness. Talwyn turned on the light to the living room, and she had a look of utter disbelief on her face, seeing Ratchet and Clank together again, alive.

'Ratchet? Clank? Oh thank god you're alive.' Talwyn walked up to both of them, and gave them each a tight hug and Ratchet swore he heard sobs, but when she was back, she wasn't teary.

'Oh, Ratchet, I thought you were dead, I thought Clank was still prisoner, being held by Dr. Nefarious, I can't say how glad I am to see you two.'

Ratchet smiled. 'It's good to see you too Talwyn. Where are Cronk and Zephyr?'

'Them? Oh, they're out buying some dinner, I made them, I couldn't stand Zephyr's cooking.'

Ratchet smiled, calling the time that Talwyn had eaten some of Zephyr's waffles and pancakes, and had gone to the bathroom and hadn't come out by 2.00 p.m.

'So, you're going to tell me everything that's happened, I was want to know now,' Talwyn said, 'Ratchet, you have no idea how much torture you put me through, waiting, watching, it was pure agony, day after day, not knowing if you were alive or dead, captured by Nefarious, or stranded on a planet somewhere, and I prayed every night for you're safe return, sometimes I thought should I take my own life if you're dead, but I thought, "No, I'll carry on, we will carry on, I'll never break down" all the chemicals in my body swelled up with strong emotion, I thought of running away, cutting myself, but no, I carried on, and I'll hell glad I did!'

Ratchet was moved by Talwyn's speech, he had never known that she cared so deeply about him, in that way.

'I'll make you some hot chocolate okay?' Talwyn sniffed and walked, no, strolled into the kitchen.

Ratchet sighed, and sat down on the leather couch, removing bits of his armor, and surveying the room that he had missed so much.

'How does it feel to be back buddy?' Ratchet asked the robot who was gingerly settling onto the couch.

'It feels, it feels safe.' Clank looked into Ratchet's blue/green eyes, and said, 'thank you, for coming back for me.'

'You kidding me? You'd think I'd leave my best pal out there all alone, no I would never do that, never, Never Say Never, Clank, I fought in The Fray until I got you back, and I never gave up, because I wanted to see you again, more than anything, and when I thought about giving up, I thought I heard your voice, talking to me, saying, "Don't let me go. Don't let me go. Don't let me go." I every time I couldn't continue, I heard your voice telling me not to lose the Fray against Dr. Nefarious, and that helped me to continue, and I'll never forget that, never.'

Clank thought he saw tears in the eyes of the Lombax, but it was only his imagination, since they were gone a moment later.

'And now that I have you back, I'm never letting you out of my sight,' Ratchet said as Talwyn walked in with three cups of steaming cocoa.

Ratchet sipped his, and then smiled, and said, 'I forgot how well you make them, I only got terrible cocoa while I was away; damn kiosks are so low quality.'

'It's nice of you to say that, Ratchet, really nice, especially nice of you to swear in my honor.'

Ratchet had forgotten what a dazzling smile Talwyn had, she could always light up his day, no matter how clouded it was.

Ratchet told her everything since they parted, from crashing on Quantos, to finding Alister, to discovering Nefarious' plans to misuse the clock great to reverse all villain's falls, to Alister going twisted and attempting to abuse the clock, and then him scarifying himself for it. Then he told her how they got kidnapped by Mac, and how they escaped from the jaws of disaster with milliseconds to spare, he told her everything, because she could sniff out a lie so easily it wasn't funny, and he didn't have the stomach to mislead his friend.

When he had finished, Talwyn sighed, leaned back, and said, 'You just keep falling into trouble, don't you Ratchet, and you sniff it out?'

'More like trouble sniffs me out,' Ratchet muttered, and Clank snickered.

'I believe Talwyn is correct Ratchet, you look for trouble far too easily.'

'Yeah? Like when we were in the BattlePlex, and Mac was forcing me to fight in his arena, and then he strapped me to that…'

Talwyn gave a start, she didn't know about Ratchet's overnight torture. 'Strapped? Strapped to what Ratchet? Is there something you're not telling me?'

'Ah, well, it's um,' He cleared his throat, 'Difficult to explain, really.'

Talwyn then grabbed his wrist, and pulled his glove off, and rolled up the sleeve of his suit.

'Just as I thought,' Talwyn said, Ratchet looked down and saw a black ring around his wrist where he was strapped down overnight, the lock was so tight that his fur looked more yellow inside the ring than out, an obvious sign of tightness and torture.

Ratchet knew he was going to get another thing beginning with T.

Surprisingly, he did, but in a different way, instead of Talwyn asking questions roughly, she merely just pulled the Lombax into a tight hug, and whispered in his ear, 'Never, never keep something like that away from me Ratchet, never.'

'Talwyn, it's just, I don't want you to worry, you know, about me.'

'Ratchet, I get more worried when I see this happening to you. Now, while we are discussing this, did anything thing else happen?'

'Yeah, Nefarious strapped us to his asteroid and blasted off into space, but the Zoni protected us, and it was almost enjoyable.'

Talwyn snorted. 'I'm sure it was.'

'I just love the smell of danger, It's in my extinct I guess.'

'Well it better be in your extinct to get clean, cause you have not had a shower for how long?'

'Ah, about 12 hours!'

'Oh, well have one anyway, the showers here are much better, as you know already.'

Ratchet smiled at walked up the stairs into upstairs bedrooms, and bathrooms, he went into his bedroom first, the same as he left it, nothing had been touched, it was the same old room.

He went to his bed and sat down, and as he pulled of his armor and suit, he wondered if trouble looked for him, or he looked for it.

Probably both.

Yes, probably both.

He just loved some adventure in his life, but recently it was going too far, and he was going get in deep trouble, and in more hot water than a Japanese tea bag.

* * *

'So Clank, is Ratchet okay, he seemed a bit, on edge, if you know what I mean.'

Clank nodded, 'Yes,' he said , 'Ratchet has been through a lot, especially Alister's death has stunned his greatly, I think he will have a hard time recovering his mental state, he's the only Lombax he knew, and he deceived him, and tried to kill him, but he's not someone to break easily, he never will breakeven, but that was before the worst, grieving together always helps your intellectual state, and that's something that I give him every time.'

Talwyn listened to Clank's speech with divine interest, hanging on every word. 'So you think Ratchet is losing his mind slowly?'

'No,' Clank shook his head. 'Ratchet won't lose his mind, but he has lost a small portion of his sanity I believe, but he isn't going into divine madness, he's strong minded and I know him very well, he's not going to lose his mind ever, he's too clever for that.'

'I hope so, I sure do,' Talwyn said.

'But you should have seen him when we battled Nefarious, he was so angry, he was full of so much revenge that he almost smacked him into next week, in fact if someone asked me where Nefarious had gone, I would have said, 'Oh, Ratchet has slapped him in to next week, but he should be back next Tuesday, everybody hates Nefarious that is certain.'

Talwyn smiled again, Clank had a strange sense of humor, that is what was certain.

After Ratchet had his shower that he loved every second of, he found some clothes in the drawer and headed downstairs. He heard Talwyn and Clank conversing in the living room, about some sort of food preparation.

He headed into the kitchen, where he went to the coffee machine, and made himself a strong espresso, he always had one after a shower, it soothed his soul so well, and relaxed his inner muscles.

'Hey Talwyn, when are Cronk and Zephyr coming back with dinner?' He asked as he poked his head into the lounge room.

'Oh they're back already and are cooking the meat on the Barbie,' Talwyn replied.

'"Barbie" what's that?' Ratchet asked, confused by the unusual slang.

Talwyn smiled. 'It's slang for barbecue, and hopefully they won't burn it again, I am sick of disgusting food, you really need to cook Ratchet.'

Ratchet shook his head fervently, 'No way, I can't cook, really I can't.'

'I think you could Ratchet.'

'I can cook toast and hot water, but that's about it.'

'That's why you need to learn,' Talwyn shot back, sensing that he was searching for excuses.

'Maybe someday I figure it out, when I'm not busy saving the universe again.'

'What makes you think that you always need to say the universe again? Do you want to save it again and put yourself in danger?'

'Well no, not really,' Ratchet said slowly, 'But I am tired of the universe always managing to get in jeopardy again, sometimes I just want it to stay saved for a bit, I feel like the maid sometimes, I feel like yelling, "I just cleaned up this mess, could you keep it clean for maybe ten minutes?"'

Talwyn rolled her eyes. 'If you only knew what a lie that was Ratchet, really, if you only knew.'

'Tal, don't worry, I won't be going back into danger anytime soon, I'm the only Lombax out there, and I want to lead a normal life now, I won't be going back into danger, and I won't be finding anyone who wants to kill me anytime soon, and I definitely won't be out there hunting for more answers, because I am satisfied with my answers now, and there are no more Lombaxes out there, so I'm just going to stop the danger now, that's it, no more peril for me.'

If only Ratchet knew how wrong he was.

* * *

I do not like this section of the story, but please do not hold back from telling me you did.

There will be a huge twist soon, and another torture scene, which will have strong themes, and violence.

RR


	5. The Pizza Hangover

Chapter 5

'That's it, I have no mercy for you, I am going to kill you, in cold blood, you will die, and you will die now!'

'That's wrong, I will kill ya first, I will stick a gun in your squishy belly and fire!'

Talwyn walked out of the room where Zephyr and Ratchet where having a game of Untreasured 2, or Call Of Obligation, she didn't really want to know what exactly it was, all she knew was that the sound was giving her a huge headache.

Ratchet and Clank had been living here for five days now, and she loved their company so much, and since they had nowhere to go she was happy that they could stay, and even though they didn't need to, they helped with the shopping, cleaning, cooking, everything, and she was grateful for it.

Cronk and Zephyr got on with Ratchet and Clank perfectly, as did she with them, it was probably due to the ugly truth that they had no other family, and were alone except for each other.

Ratchet and Zephyr had gone out together and bought some new gadget made by a company that rhymed with Zoni, and they played it very often together, and Talwyn had tried it once before the controller was wrestled away from her.

Ratchet seemed to be in different spirits, sometimes he would be in a great mood and nothing could bring him down, physically or mentally, and other times he would just stare into space for hours without moving.

Talwyn left him alone in these times, Lombaxes were sensitive creatures, and she didn't want to get in the way of one, especially a male Lombax.

The days passed further, one week turned into two, and then two turned into three.

Until one day, exactly 23 days after Ratchet and Clank got to the station, things started occurring again.

'Okay guys, I'll be back around 6 p.m. try not to do anything stupid while I'm gone.' Talwyn was heading out the door, and Ratchet went after her.

'Talwyn,' he said, 'can I come with you?'

Talwyn smiled, 'No, for two reasons, reason number one.'

They both listened as Cronk and Zephyr 'prepared' dinner.

'No, ya fool, that's ketchup, not tomato paste, and put down the sugar, here's the salt.' Zephyr was saying.

'Okay, does milk and juice go together well?'

'No, you blasted fool, man I wanna just stick my head in a bucket and let you sort this out!'

'Gladly.' They listened as Cronk got a bucket of water that Talwyn was using to clean the kitchen floor after last night's cake fight, and he put in, still containing water, on top of Zephyr's head.

'And the other reason?' Ratche

* * *

t asked

'I'll be looking at make-up and perfume, that Dejaio is so tempting, and besides,' she said, getting in the ship's seat, 'I need to get out of the house for a bit, you know, socialize with other girls, not that you're bad company!'

'I'll make sure no accidents happen,' Ratchet said.

Talwyn smiled. 'Ratchet, with you there are no accidents.'

She waved a kiss in his direction as ship flew off.

Ratchet smiled as he went back indoors.

* * *

After I cleaned up the mess that Cronk and Zephyr made we ordered pizza because the food had accidentally gone out the window.

How do you say 'accidentally gone out the window'? Well I don't know, I wasn't there, but I was glad to avoid Zephyr's cooking if possible.

We all ate the pizza on the couch and played games until like 11.30 p.m. it was the best fun I had in ages.

And the best I would have in ages too.

* * *

Ratchet woke up sprawled along the floor at 2.a.m. he didn't exactly remember how he got there though.

Where is Talwyn, he thought, weakly standing up from the floor.

He heard someone in the house, he thought it was Talwyn, but this voice was a man's.

There was no sign of Cronk and Zephyr, or even Clank, he was wondering where exactly they were when the light snapped on.

'Ah, Ratchet, been looking for you for a while I have!'

'Who are you?' Ratchet asked, feeling hangover with pizza and videogames.

'I am Tachyon's second in command of battle's, and I have come to avenge his death, I was lucky to find you here.'

Ratchet's head was spinning, Tachyon's second in command? Why had he never known about him?

'My name is Brolock, and it is my duty to capture you and interrogate you, you'll understand when we get there,' he smiled in the darkness at Ratchet. 'And you can thank you're lady friend for telling us exactly where you were.'

'Talwyn would never willingly tell you that!' Ratchet shouted.

'My dear naïve Lombax,' he said. 'Who said anything about willingly?'

Ratchet paled.

Uh-oh.

'Where is she?' He asked, his voice trembling with anger.

'She's at our station, so are you going to come quietly, or not?'

'How did you guess?' Ratchet asked, stepping backwards, trying not to step on the pizza that crowded the floor.

Brolock pulled a large knife from somewhere, Ratchet didn't see where, all he knew was that it was for him.

'I'm not supposed to kill you, yet anyhow,' he said, 'that no one said not to hurt you.'

Ratchet turned around a started running.

Brolock went after him, and blocked his way, he stabbed the knife inches away from Ratchet's right ear. He wrenched the knife free and went after Ratchet again.

Ratchet was waiting on one side of the table, catching his breath. Brolock tried to run around the side of the table, but Ratchet went in the opposite direction each time.

Then Brolock lifted up the table, flipping it through the air and knocked it against Ratchet's face. Ratchet yelled out, he tasted blood through his mouth. This is end will someone dead, he thought.

He ran up the stairs, Brolock followed, throwing the knife at Ratchet's back, one time missing one time by an inch of space.

Ratchet ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

Brolock banged on it, and hammered his body against it.

'When I get to you in the cell I'll take it slow,' he sneered, his voice sounding weird through the closed door, 'not like with your girlfriend who went through it quickly, I'll do you nice and slow, I'll start by hurting no in the places you have no vitals, then I'll work my way up to something more painful and juicy!'

Then Ratchet said, 'you talk too much.' And he opened the bathroom door, and grabbed Brolock's head and jammed it in the toilet. He was hoping that the last user forgot to flush it. Judging from the screams from Brolock, that person did forget.

'This is for Talwyn!' Ratchet pushed his head deeper, and pressed the flush button.

He felt a searing pain in his leg. Brolock had grabbed his knife and scarped Ratchet's fur with it.

It stung like hell.

As he was distracted, Brolock emerged from the toilet and took up the chase again.

Ratchet ran into the bedroom, thinking it was a bad choice, he started to run out, but Brolock was standing there, waiting for him.

He pinned his arms to the bed, and then grabbed his knife, and aimed it at Ratchet's arm.

'I hope this is painful,' he said with a smile.

'CHARGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' Cronk, Clank, and Zephyr all speed into the bedroom with crowbars in their hands, and they knocked Brolock to the ground.

'Ratchet?' Clank noticed his friend hyperventilating.

'They've got Talwyn,' he said, 'I've gotta go get her.'

'Ratchet no, it's too dangerous,' Clank said.

'That's right, that's why you're staying here and I'm going, I'm not losing you again.' With that he ran towards the hangar.

'Ratchet, stop.' Ratchet barely heard Clank's voice as he speed towards the hangar and saw Brolock's ship.

He looked inside and took the nav unit that he had used to get to Talwyn's ship, he would need it.

He hoped in his ship without a moment's hesitation, and simply took off, he didn't look back, he didn't look behind at the things he was leaving, he had one goal in mind, and that was get Talwyn back, at any costs.

He set the unit to the ship where Brolock had come from, it was at least 9 hours away, so he asked the Aphelion to give him some cryosleep, so he would sleep the entire way, and would be woken when they arrived.

He awoke almost 9 hours later; he could see the ship that Brolock had come from, it was dark, threatening, and somehow creepy.

Ratchet would have turned away, except Talwyn was on that ship, and he wasn't going to let her go.

He landed the ship, praying that no one would see him, as he got changed it his Holoflux armor, and grabbed a few of his weapons.

He knew that he was sticking his head in the lion's jaws again, but he was never going to leave Talwyn behind, he would rather take her place.

He hid behind whatever he could find, and then he followed the route to the prisoner block.

He saw that the nearest one had a strong light coming from it, he crept towards it, and looked into it.

'Talwyn?' his voice sounded weird echoing through the passage ways.

'Ratchet, oh thank god you're here, please save me!'

Ratchet stepped into the room.

He almost wished he hadn't.

Nothing could have prepared him for the sight he saw.

* * *

I am getting more and more reviews, but there can never be enough, so please review, read, enjoy, and review again, thank you very much.

Also the next chapter will be a very strong themed chapter, just to warn you.

Also the knife scene will appear in my future novel look out for that!

Ratchet Ravenheart


	6. Deja Torture

Okay, I'm going to arn you, this will be a very strong themed scene, and even though I have never been tortured, strapped to a chair, interrogated, etc, I can tell you know, that this would hurt like hell if this happened to you, so don't try it out!

Also, thanks to Swordsman289 and his story Rescue Me, I was able to use some of his torture methods, and a character of his name 'Roran', so thanks to him, and check his story out as well, it's a good one!

So R&R people!

And don't get scared, it's only a story!

* * *

Chapter 6.

'Talwyn?' his voice sounded weird echoing through the passage ways.

'Ratchet, oh thank god you're here, please save me!'

He stepped into the room.

He almost wished I hadn't.

Nothing could have prepared me for the sight he saw.

Talwyn was hanging by two chains that were tied around her arms, suspending her in the air.

She had bloody scars along her face, bruises along her arms, her clothing torn, her face twisted into a picture of distress and torture.

Her face was streaked with tears, but since her limbs and body where tied down, she was in no position to wipe them away, and he doubted she would have if she could.

'Ratchet?' her voice sounded husky, like she had marbles forced down it, her eyes were crimson red, but now they had hope in them, hope of escape from hell.

He ran to her, and before he knew it he had placed his lips on hers and he kissed her, he kissed her like it was something he had been wanting to do his whole life and never got the chance to, but now he was making up for all that time.

He didn't know how long it lasted, her lips were so tender, he felt like I would never stop kissing her.

'What the hell have they done to you?' he asked, my eyes blazing at the very sight of Talwyn's torture.

'Ratchet, they kidnapped me, they used me to lure you here. I don't know what they want, they sent an assassin after you.'

'Brolock,' he said, 'don't worry he's taken care of, I flushed his attitude away.'

'I knew you would come Ratchet,' she said, 'with you there are no accidents.'

'Oh yes there are,' a menacing voice said from behind him, ' because you're about to have a very big one right now!'

He turned around, expecting the worst.

The worst was there.

Ratchet saw three more lieutenants there, probably more of Tachyon's stooges, and they actually looked happy to see me.

That was a first.

'Ah Ratchet,' the one who spoke first said, 'I am so glad you're here, but dare I ask where Brolock is?'

'I plunged his head down the toilet and flushed it,' he said bluntly, although I knew this wasn't going to end well, they wanted something for sure.

'Well,' he said, 'that won't happen here, to us anyway.'

'Why don't you start by telling me what the bloody hell you want?' he spat.

'My name is Firo,' he said, 'this is Sakata and Jokola. And we what you ask you a few questions. Why you comply? There doesn't need to be any,' he coughed, 'messy things.'

Ratchet pointed to Talwyn and her long scars. 'If you don't call that messy I wonder what you do.'

Firo smiled. 'You won't be wondering for long.'

His fur stiffened just as it did at the Battleplex, and he had that feeling in his gut again that he was going to go through some serious pain.

Ratchet swallowed nervously. 'Want do you want?'

'We want to know where the Great Clock is.'

He was so shocked that he was lost for words. Something that happened very rarely.

'I am not telling you that.' When it was out of his mouth he realized that it was just about the worst possible thing could have said.

Firo said nothing, as if he was expecting that answer. He nodded and without a word Sakata and Jokola grabbed him.

They dragged him backwards, so he couldn't see what they were dragging him to.

They shoved him into a chair, and they strapped his arms down to the side of the chair, and his feet as well, not with cheap Velcro, but with strong unbreakable steel straps. Maybe he had been watching Last Desalination and, Sore VI for too long, but this freaked him out more than the Battleplex. Next time he would watch Thursday the 12th instead.

He couldn't move an inch from this chair, they had tied him down by my waist and legs as well, so he could only sit and wait for the worst.

Jokola suddenly punched him in the face, he didn't see it coming, but it hit him with full force. And boy it hurt.

Then he rained a series of blows, punches, slaps and backhands to Ratchet's face. It was so painful he had tears in his eyes suddenly.

He finally stopped, Ratchet face was scarred with blood, Talwyn had been shouting but he hadn't noticed her, he was too absorbed in his pain.

'Aren't you supposed to ask me the question, then torture me afterwards?' he said, and spat onto the floor, his bloody spit landing on Jokola's boot.

'We're doing this a different way,' Firo said bluntly as Jokola cursed. Ratchet noticed that Sakata was almost ashamed to be here.

'We're not going to ask you each time then give you a painful method of torture,' he said, 'I'll ask you once, then if you don't cooperate, we'll start, and each time will be stronger and worse. We have a whole torture area. Built for Lombaxes too. And you'll go through each and everyone until we get the answer.'

'If you misuse the Great Clock for more than six minutes, you will rip the very fabric of time and existence,' Ratchet said, 'do you want to be responsible for the extinction of life?'

'We have special procedures,' Firo said confidently, 'and we know what we're doing. So I will ask you this again, where is the Great Clock?'

Ratchet said nothing, thinking of the worst thing he could say, he said it, and then said, 'when I get out of there, I swear I'll put my foot so far in your behind you'll have toes for teeth, and taste shoe polish in your throat. Okay Bastards?'

'Jokola, enjoy yourself. And don't get any blood on my clothes.'

Uh-oh.

Jokola then went away for a second, then he came back with a small case. Ratchet thought he knew what he in those cases. Torture elements.

Jokola set the case down and opened it gleeful. Like a child unwrapping presents at Christmas. Somehow Ratchet doubted that a child ever got any of these things for Christmas.

Jokola had a long rope in his hand, he fastened around Ratchet's neck.

Then he pulled upwards. Of course Ratchet didn't budge from the chair, but he started to lose consciousness, black spots started swimming in front of his eyes.

When he was a few seconds from losing consciousness, Jokola let go, and then he started creating a rope burn around Ratchet's neck, twisting the rope backwards and forwards, side-by-side.

Ratchet swore, thought of every foul word he knew, but it still wasn't enough to stop him.

He swore, thought of every foul word he knew, but it still wasn't enough to stop him. He was going to continue until he was dead.

Then he rolled the sleeve of his suit up, and a held a weapon sharp weapon. He couldn't see what it was because he was in no position to get a good look around, but he found out a moment later.

It was a huge sharp knife.

He had slashed it across my skin.

Blood started tricking from my fur, making it crimson in colour. He was agony, to be sitting there and knowing you couldn't do a single thing about it.

He repeated the process, across his legs, arms, hands even. He was a blood thirsty monster, and nothing would stop him from coming athim. When Ratchet got out of this mess, he was going to shove his knife up his. . .

He had a twisted smile on his face. Was he such an Emo that he needed to cut other people instead of himself? He had a bad feeling that he was more than an Emo. A crazy killer Emo, that is.

He went on to the next torture method. He clenched his fist, and raised his middle finger, still bent. Then he hammered his fist on Ratchet's arm. His arm almost felt like it was broken, his fist reached the sensitive part of his bones, his arm felt like it was about to be ripped off. Tears swelled up at his eyes, but he would not give them the satisfaction of seeing me suffer, he would go through this to the end.

Then what he did was the most painful of them all.

He grabbed some of the fur on his left arm, his fingers gripped it like iron hooks.

Then he ripped the fur off Ratchet's body. It was so sudden and shocking that I didn't have the time to realize what had just happened to me. He yelled out in unbearable pain, his sobs drowned out by Talwyn's pleading. Jokola did it again, ripping it out, tearing it and twisting in all directions. He wondered who else had gone through this torture. More importantly, had anyone escaped from it alive?

'You know who sat it that exact chair?' Firo asked Ratchet grinning evilly. 'Roran did. He was tortured until he gave in information to your side. Well he died in that chair, and he was tortured in that chair as well. We've now thought that we'll turn the tables a bit, so it's the other way around. Not to worry though, you won't die, not until you tell us what we want to know anyway.'

So Roran had also been here, tortured on this very chair. How ironic that their paths should meet like this.

He continued to do it no matter what Ratchet said or did. Jokola had not a shred of mercy in him, nor did he have any kindness. Firo watched in gleaming fascination. Sakata looked concerned and worried, constantly fidgeting on the spot. He considered looking to him for a hint of kindness, but he wasn't going to give in to them.

Jokola again ripped out his fur, slashed his fur, punched him in the face, dislodged his teeth, broke his right index finger, everything he could think of.

'This is wrong.' The words rang out suddenly, forcing everyone's heads to turn to the speaker.

'What?' Firo asked.

'I said that this is wrong,' Sakata said bluntly, 'this is torture beyond almost anything I have seen. We can't do this, and this Lombax has gone through enough in his life.'

'Sakata.' Firo was speaking through gritted teeth. 'Unless you want to join him or take his place, I suggest you put a sock in it, got it?'

Sakata stepped back and said nothing, but Ratchet could see he had doubts.

Jokola went back to his victim.

When he was finished, Ratchet was a bleeding wreck, his face and skin scarred and tainted with blood, and his eyes crimson red. He couldn't take any more of it, he had never gone through this much torture in his life before.

'So my dear Lombax.' Firo's voice sounded like the devil's to him now. 'Are you going to tell me where the Great Clock is? If not, I'm am very happy to continue watching this. It's better than any movie I'll seen before.'

What sort of crazed person would actually enjoy torture? Constantly talk about it, watch it, look for it, make it a hobby, search it out? A person who had lost his mind, a person with no heart. And this was that person.

'No,' Ratchet spat out slowly, feeling every bruise and scratch on his body. 'You can't. Please. Just, just, I can't.'

'You can,' Firo said, 'and you will. Either you tell me the location of the Great Clock right now, or we'll take you to the Compressor.'

Ratchet had no idea what the Compressor was, but he knew that it wasn't good, especially if it was worse than this.

If he did give in, it wasn't just is life at stake, it was the whole universes'. He couldn't give in.

'I will never do it, you evil son of a motherf-'

'Such brave words, such incredible bravery,' Firo said mockingly, 'such morbid stupidity. You'll change your mind when you see what we've got for you. This will be your worst nightmare you will ever experience. Welcome to Hell, Ratchet. Welcome to Hell.'

* * *

I know this is very, very cruel, showing what Ratchet went through, but i think it was needed.

Anyway, I have never been tortured before, or tied to a chair, but I am guessing that it's not a walk in the park at all, so don't try it at home.

Also, I am not a 'torture fan' I hate torture, and all who do, but it's only a fictional story, and sometimes a little pain is needed!

Thanks again to Swordsman289's story!


	7. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

Now this is pretty interesting, I was in the city of Sydney on Thursday the 8th in a bowling alley, and after I finished a game with a few friends, I was talking about the story that I'm uploading here, and when I mentioned my name and story title, someone in the next row told him that he's read my stories here on fanfiction, this one. No he gave me terrific feedback and I loved it, but I was so surprised that I met someone who knew my online work, and I met him in person. Thanks so much Nick if you're seeing this, I loved your terrific feedback.

Anyway, this chapter may be even stronger themed than before, and the next one even more so.

Please R&R ;)

* * *

'Please don't do this to me,' Ratchet said, his words coming out in a sur. He felt like he would pass out into a coma. He had never gone through so much before. What was worse was that he knew that there was more to come, and that he might not survive the next few hours.

'We won't if you tell us where the bleeding Great Clock is,' Firo said. 'All you have to do is tell us, and you go free. I'm a man of my word.'

'You a man of your word?' Ratchet would have spat at him if Jokola's hand wasn't around his throat. 'I don't believe that. And I won't tell you. If you misuse it, or use it all at, you will disrupt the entire universe, ripping out the fabric of time. So if you use it you will risk destroying the entire universe. Best case scenario, you'll destroy a whole galaxy, and you don't want that blood on your hands.'

Firo leaned forward, so that his face was inches away from Ratchet's. He would have recoiled except for that minor fact that he was strapped to a chair. '"You don't want that blood on your hands"? You have no idea what blood I already have on my hands, but what would I expect from you, boy?'

Ratchet then will all his might, balled up all the saliva he could muster and spat in Firo's face.

Lombax's spit is easily spread and thick, and Ratchet spat as much as he could, and now Firo's face was dripping with it, he looked like he was melting.

'Shut the puck up and go to hell,' Ratchet said as he spat at Firo again.

'Yes Ratchet, that's exactly where I'm taking you.' Firo wiped the thick saliva off his face, and then with one swift movement he backhanded Ratchet across the face, he did it so hard that Ratchet head whipped backwards with a painful crack.

'Leave him alone, you son of a three legged goat,' Talwyn shouted.

'Put a sock in it, bitch,' Jokola said.

'Who are you calling bitch, bitch?' Talwyn screamed. 'He's hurt, he might die if you continue, what's your problem, or are you so stupid that you can't see that?'

'We will do whatever we want,' Firo said calmly. 'And you're not going to be able to do anything about it.'

'What's the time?' Sakata asked, looking very depressed.

Firo looked at his watch. 'It's 1.00 a.m. We'll put him in the Compressor and then go to bed. Torturing people, especially Lombaxes, tire me out so much, they're such stubborn creatures.

Lombaxes. . . more than one?

They untied Ratchet from the chair. Ratchet moved this limbs that he hadn't moved for the whole day. They forced him to his feet.

They marched him outside the chamber and into the hallway, leading to another room. Jokola had Ratchet's arms in a lock position right behind him. Ratchet knew he had a small chance of escape, a small one, but one never the less.

As Jokola slightly loosened his grip on Ratchet's arms, Ratchet twisted around, grabbing Jokola's fingers and bending them backwards so much that three of them broke with a loud crack. As Jokola howled, Ratchet grabbed his broken hand and flung him over his shoulder, smashing him to the ground.

Ratchet kicked Jokola is the side of the head with his boot, and then turned around, hoping to see the escape route open. He was wrong.

Firo had a gun, and he had pointed it right at Ratchet's face, the gun's eye evil and hallow. The devil must have an eye like that, Ratchet thought.

'Very foolish boy, very.' With that, Firo did a two handed push into Ratchet's chest, Ratchet fell on the ground next to Jokola, breathing heavily.

'Get up Jokola,' Firo said, 'and now let's enjoy ourselves a little shall we?'

Jokola got to his feet, and then with unbelievable force he kicked Ratchet in the side, his armor preventing almost no force against the kick.

They dragged Ratchet to his feet and Jokola pressed the gun against Ratchet's arm saying, 'if you try anything again, this one goes in your arm, then your foot, and then in your juicy parts, compreheny?'

'Stick it,' Ratchet snarled miserably.

They led to him to another room, where a long tube stood.

Sakata pressed a button on the wall and then the tube began to slide back, revealing a space big enough for someone to lie down.

Ratchet had feeling he knew who would be the one who would be locked inside.

Suddenly he felt a arm wrenching grip lift him up and slam him onto the table, his head going first go it would slam against the metal.

He saw that cylinder straps rose out of the tube and clamped tight around his limbs.

When would this ever end?

He placed his head back, admitting defeat. He didn't know what was in store for him, but he only knew that his storage would not be pretty.

Firo came over to him and rested his hands against the side of the interior.

'Do you know what this is?' he asked, 'this is our infamous Compressor. What we do is lock someone inside, then the walls close, coming closer and closer, so then you have barely a centimetre of space to breathe, and because you'll be locked in, you won't be able to move at all, so for hours, so no space to breathe, and you will not be able to move a millimetre in space in any direction. Oh and the tube is temperature controlled as well, so we can make it a nice 50 degrees, or a refreshing -10 degrees. Unfortunately, we don't want to kill you, so we'll just stretch to the very possible limit that we still allow you do live. And as a precaution, we'll strap you down will extra restraints, so you won't budge, we're not taking chances will you my dear Lombax.'

Ratchet raised his weary head and saw that Firo was telling the truth, they had tied him down by the shoulders, elbows, knees, thighs, waists, more over his legs and arms, and they had even doubled his wrists and ankles over twice.

He lay back, tears welling in his eyes, he felt so tried, and so drained that he wanted to crawl into a corner and not wake up for a thousand years.

But of course, that wasn't going to happen here, he was going to get out of here, and was going to do it alive.

'So,' Firo said, 'do you have anything to say before we lock you in? If you answer us and tell us what we want to know, we'll release you two, and give you all clean clothes, food, and even new ships and money. What do you say to that? Or are you just too proud of being a Lombax?'

Ratchet said nothing for a moment, then he said, 'you can kiss my furry behind, you satanically twisted, Lombax torturing, heartless devious plotter, insane, hard-assed, stone-hearted BASTARD!'

Firo didn't look surprised at Ratchet's frank answer. 'Very well. Have an uncomfortable night, Ratchet.'

Before he could close the tube though, Jokola walked up to where Ratchet was bound. He had a roll of black tape in his hands.

'Why don't we do this, since we want him to be uncomfortable,' Firo said, as he placed a thick line of tape over Ratchet's mouth. Ratchet started struggling immediately, since Lombaxes have muzzles that don't allow then to draw air through quickly enough for them to keep their mouth closed all the time, so now Ratchet had no air what so ever.

'I don't think so,' Firo said, as he ripped the tape off Ratchet's mouth as painfully as possible, 'we do want him to live, and anyone who does kill him will take his place. I make the rules now.'

'You've always made the rules,' Jokola said, looking at Ratchet as if he was a lump of mud.

'Correct, and now I still make the rules,' replied Firo. He turned to Ratchet and said, 'see you in about ten hours.' With that he closed the tube.

Ratchet felt the walls closing in at once. The whole thing reduced in size, so the walls on the side squashed his bound arms and legs, and the wall above him was five centimetres from his face. Then the room started to get warmer; steam appeared before his eyes.

He laid his head back. He couldn't go through this anymore, this was the limit, he would do anything possible to get out of this, his determination to live, to conquer and survive was greater than anything.

Even though he knew it was pointless, he struggled against the binders, yelling at the top of his lungs, swearing the worst words he knew, everything he could think of.

As he suffered, he thought about everything he went through, he thought about his boulevard of heroic life. He wasn't going to give up now. He might be the only one of his kind that he would meet again, and he walked alone, but he wasn't going to lose now, not now, not ever. He drifted into sleep, into his boulevard of broken dreams, as he walked alone, through the universe, he had been through so much, survived against all odds, this wasn't going to be his last adventure, he would see it through to the end, even if he needed to fight his way out with no less than 21 guns that he would construct alone.

He drifted off to a troubled and painful sleep.

He was walking along the boulevard, the boulevard of broken dreams. He was alone. His shadow was the only thing walking behind him. His hallow heart was the only the only thing that beating. It was alone him, walking the road he always knew. He continued walking aimlessly.

'Don't give up Ratchet,' said a voice. Ratchet didn't recognize it.

'Why,' he yelled. 'Why have I gone through all this? What have I done? What must I do?'

'You must continue your quest. You won't be alone.'

'I am alone!' Ratchet shouted, tears weeping from his swollen eyes. 'I am the only bloody Lombax left. I can't bloody do this anymore.'

'No,' the voice said, its volume decreasing. 'There is another. . . .'

Ratchet woke up suddenly opening his eyes softly. His head hurt. He tried to move his arm. He couldn't. It was still strapped down. He was still a prisoner. It was all a dream.

Ratchet lay back, thinking about his dream. Did it mean anything? Who said those words, and why?

Ratchet was starting to feel comfortable and warm in the chamber. Even though the straps ruined some of his relaxation, he still felt safe, secure and warm.

What was he talking about? Safe, secure and warm? He was a prisoner of people who put him through agonizing torture because they wanted information. He must have been going crazy; feeling warm and secure. It was an obvious sign of insanity. He laughed crazily, his head feeling light and weird.

He closed his eyes and drifted slowly away.

'Ah, Ratchet, did you have a bad night. Perhaps now you're willing to talk.'

Ratchet blinked in the strong artificial light. He rubbed his eyes. He noticed that his straps were released.

He said nothing, avoiding Firo's gaze.

Firo picked Ratchet up with surprisingly strong force and slammed him against the wall.

'Look Lombax,' he shouted. 'I'm sick of this, so unless you co-operate with us, you're going to die slowly and with unimaginable pain and sadness. Is that what you want?'

'Go to hell,' Ratchet snarled.

'I already am,' he said satanically. 'And so are you. Now, what we're putting you through next with change your mind completely.'

'No,' Ratchet begged, slumping to the floor, 'I can't take it anymore. Just let me go.'

'You think I am going to let you go?' Firo laughed. Ratchet thought for a moment that he had heard Satan himself laugh. 'No, you will give me what I want, and you will stay here until you give it to me.'

'F-you,' Ratchet yelled.

'F-you,' he snarled back.

'You F-er.'

'F-you, you F-er,'

'You motherf-'

'This conversation is over,' Firo said. 'You're going to the Jets now.'

'What's the Jets?' Ratchet asked fearfully.

'Ah, you'll find out. But the thing is, you probably won't be able to tell anyone about it. Ever.'

He nodded to his minions. 'Take him, and make sure it's turned up really high.'

* * *

Am I putting Ratchet the cute cuddly Lombax with far too much pain? Tell me, because I played ACiT yesterday, and cute Lombaxes shouldn't be tortured, and I can't really write about it when playing ACiT and seeing Ratchet's form. It's a little hard.

Please review, the more reviews, the more quickly chapters will be out!

Thanks all!


	8. Jets

Okay, this will be a even more darker scene than before. Brace yourself!

* * *

'Let go of me!' Ratchet shouted as he was tightly grabbed by the torturers, he struggled but couldn't break their solid grip on him.

They brought him to a large wide container. The door opened and they brought him in. In the middle of the room there was a overhanging pole, they brought Ratchet to it and strapped his arms straight up to it, the metal cylinders clamped shut with a sickening bang. They did the same to his feet, so he had his arms up high above his head and his feet tied to the floor.

Ratchet started quietly sobbing, hoping that none of them would notice. He had never felt sadder, more doomed, and darker than he had ever before.

'Look,' Firo sneered, 'he's crying. The brave Lombax is crying.' He reached out and grabbed Ratchet's face, staring into his now red eyes. 'You will be crying plenty soon.'

Ratchet spat at him and then knocked him in the head with his own head, knowing that he would be the only one who would feel the pain.

Firo recovered, then with one swift moment, he elbowed Ratchet in the stomach. He tried to double over in pain, but the straps prevented him from doing so.

'You will learn to obey me!' Firo screamed, 'even if I have to take you to the lowest deeps of hell to listen to me, you will.'

As he walked out, he turned around and said mockingly to Ratchet, 'do you know what these Jets are? Well, out of these holes that you see dotted every few centimetres in every direction are connected to a water system. We will heat the water to boiling and then the water will jet out and hit you with full force from every direction. We can aim it at parts such as your head, which can drive a person insane and confess anything.'

'No, you can't!' Ratchet shouted as the door closed. 'Please no, don't do this, no. Please!' Ratchet shook as head as fresh tears sprouted from his eyes and trickling down his armour that was loosen so the water would have better access to his fur underneath.

Suddenly the water spat out from the jets, spraying him with unbelievable force, the heat of the water burned his fur, the heat so strong that he couldn't breathe.

It went on for two hours, the water that was at least 55 degrees was jetted on his fur, driving him crazy, making him say the worst words that he had never even used before, crying out and giving up hope.

At last the water was turned off, Ratchet's arms were aching from behind forced up high, his feet felt like they were going to be ripped off his legs, and he had never felt so distressed in his life. The hot water had shocked him to such an extent that he felt as if he would never touch hot water again.

The door opened and Firo walked in, followed by Jokola. He was grinning madly.

'Ah, I hope you enjoyed your bath,' Firo said, rubbing his hands together. 'You know that feeling when you drink boiling hot water and burn your tongue with considerable pain? That's what you'll be feeling for a long time all over your body, but ten times worse. So, do you have any information for me?'

Ratchet could not speak, he could not move. He wanted to die right there.

'The bastard doesn't feel like talking,' Jokola said, 'shall we take it to the next level then?'

'No,' Firo said, releasing Ratchet's bonds as he crashed to the floor, his Lombax ears were spread out and drooped more than Ratchet ever thought they could. 'We'll do that tomorrow.'

Jokola kicked Ratchet in the side of the stomach, then hauled him to his feet, grabbing him by the scruff on his neck. 'Do you know what we've got lined up for you?'

'No, you worthless piece of bullshit,' Ratchet spat.

'We have a little substance here called' Firo lined forward to Ratchet's face to create tension 'Jericritium Jynoltium.'

'No,' Ratchet's head shot up with fear. 'You can't have it.'

'We do.'

Jericritium Jynoltium was a spice that was banned in almost every galaxy. A single millimetre would cause unimaginable heat inside your mouth, your mouth would feel like it was on fire, and that was just a single millimetre inside your mouth.

'Unless you tell us the Clock's location by tomorrow,' said Firo, leading the way back to where Talwyn was chained, 'we'll force buckets and buckets down your mouth, nose, and even eyes. And we'll leave you for three days, giving you more each hour. Then, we will tie you down and put you on a stretcher, and spending a week in a stretched X position is not pleasant. Then we will put you in the ultimate torture method. We will' he paused for effect 'we will place you in oil, and then we will burn your fur off. Think about it Ratchet. We will burn your fur off. If you live, then we will set you a light again. Then maybe we'll start cutting off your fingers and toes. Maybe the tip off your ear. Maybe we'll leave you in the Compressor for weeks without food. You will go through that exact torture if you do not tell us the location of the great Clock. All your fur being burnt off. I hope that some off it doesn't so then I can rip it off, so half your fur being burnt off, then being feed possibly into a giant saw. I better have an answer, or you will die a more painful and slow death than anyone ever has.'

* * *

Did I go overboard????? I think I might have, just let me know.

Oh, and please review. The reviews I get, the faster a another chapter comes.

This will be the last torture chapter, for a bit anyway. It's too much, and I think that I'm mistreating the poor Lombax ever so much.

Until then......

RR


	9. Escape From Hell

I haven't really been getting enough reviews, so unless I get some more, I may discontinue the fanfic.

This will be when Ratchet makes an escape from hell, but it doesn't end here........

* * *

Ratchet was shaking uncontrollably by the time he was forced back into the chair. He didn't even flinch when Jokola pulled his right ear painfully. He couldn't think of a worse torture than being burned alive. He knew that they would burn his fur off, and he knew that he had to escape before that.

He told Talwyn everything that had happened to him. She was in shock.

'They can't do this,' she screamed hysterically, 'it's not right.

'They can and they will,' Ratchet said miserably. 'We need to escape before that.'

'I've got a plan Ratchet,' Talwyn said as Ratchet slumped asleep in the chair.

When he awoke he was being tied a to a wooden pole in a metal room. There was oil on the floor. The oil was burning, it was creeping up to his fur, setting it a light.

He screamed, his scream went on, and on, and on. . . . .

He woke up with start. He remembered what had happened, and then he realized it was a dream. He was still strapped to the chair in the cell with Talwyn.

'Ratchet,' she said, 'I've got a plan.'

The security guard walked past the cell, wondering what all the shouting was.

'Hey, put a sock in it will ya?' he yelled.

'You? Why should I listen to you? You're so damn ugly I bet you've never been in sniffing distance of girl!' Ratchet shouted.

'What did you say? You little punk!' he had walked over and was standing over Ratchet's chair.

'I bet that you've never been spoken to a girl without being slapped and punched in the face, you son of bitch!'

'That's it,' he said, bringing out a thick metal bar. He was about to hit Ratchet with it, but Ratchet using all his strength pushed up with his feet and feel backwards, kicking the security guard backwards about five metres in the process. Ratchet's chair slammed down the ground and his head smashed against the cold floor. He twisted around painfully to see what was happening.

It was an amazing sight he saw.

Talwyn had her legs around his neck, pulling and chocking him. He saw that she squeezed harder and that his eyes crossed and he slumped unconscious, falling down to the ground with a thump.

Talwyn carefully with her foot got the keys that were on the ground and unlocked her chains. Ratchet had never seen her do such an agile move.

She ran over to him, where he was still lying on the floor. She pulled his chair back up, and gave him a long kiss on the lips. Then she released the straps around his arms and legs.

They then put the guard where Ratchet was sitting seconds before.

'Let's get nice and comfortable shall we?' Ratchet asked, brutally stepping on the straps to make them unbelieveably tight. The guard's hand was turning purple already. He then taped his mouth viciously with duck tape, then smacking him in the face.

Without a single word they both ran out of the cell, praying that no one would see them.

'This way,' hissed Talwyn, leading the way to another room where she disappeared from views.

'No, Talwyn, it's this way,' Ratchet exclaimed as he belted after her, his dream still in his mind.

He came to the cell where Talwyn was standing. He followed her gaze to where she was looking.

There was a figure on the wall, his arms held directly above his head, and his legs pulled in the opposite direction. Ratchet gave a gasp of shock.

The figure was a Lombax.

His fur was a darker colour than Ratchet's, even though it was still golden coloured. He had black stripes across his body, giving him a ruthless and dark look. He had armour on identical to Ratchet's except his straps and proofers were black, not blue. What frightened Ratchet was he had a look in his eyes. The look of someone who wanted revenge more than anything in the world. Someone who could actually taste it in their mouth. He was also in a lot of pain; he was being stretched while they had secured bonds of his legs, arms, waist, chest, everywhere. They had even put on over his tail. The sorry scene caused Ratchet to hate the Cragmites even more.

The Lombax looked at Ratchet with pleading eyes. Eyes that were crimson red from either crying or something else.

Ratchet saw what had caused it.

There was a huge bucket of Jericritium Jynoltium in the corner. Next to it was a collection of tools that were used to force the deadly spices down his eyes, throat and muzzle. Next to it was a huge case of knifes, scapels, a nail gun, tweezers, ropes, metal cylinders, broken glass, a saw and even an axe. There were so many items that Ratchet couldn't count them. He had to turn away. Half of them had dried up blood on them. Every hair on Ratchet's body had stood up like a toothpick. They had to get out. All of them.

He ran over to the controls to free the black Lombax. The controls had a password encryption.

'The bastards,' growled Ratchet. He might never get him out.

'Stand back.' Ratchet got out of the way just in time as Talwyn grabbed the axe and smashed it into the controls. The black Lombax slumped to the floor at once.

Ratchet and Talwyn ran over to him and picked him up. Ratchet noticed that he looked a lot like him. He was even wearing the same type of head covering that Ratchet was.

'Who are you?' Ratchet asked. 'What your name?'

'Remy,' he said in a droned voice. 'Short for Jeremy. Long for Jem. You can call me all three.'

'What are you doing here?' Ratchet asked. 'Who are you?'

'Me?' he asked. 'I am a Lombax. I've been looking for you for a long time mate.'

The black Lombax had an accent that Ratchet couldn't place. 'How long have you been here?'

'A month,' he said hoarsely. 'One bloody month. They tortured me with everything they had. They were going to put me into the Oil tube today.'

'Why?' Ratchet yelled. 'Why are they doing this to us?'

'They want the great Clock,' Jem said. 'And they seem to think that I would know where it is, and they forced that Jericritium Jynoltium in my mouth yesterday. They said they would put it in my eyes today.'

'Are you kidding?' Ratchet yelled again. 'We are going to send them on an early journey to hell. All of us. But why are you looking for me?'

'You were the last one' he swallowed deeply 'to see my father, Alister Azimuth alive.'

* * *

I bet you weren't expecting that.

Please R&R!

Thanks!


	10. Duel To The Black Death

Okay, I'm going to try a first person view for this chapter. See how it goes. A lot of you have been writing to me and begging me not to drop this story. I won't, but reviews people. Who says that one chapter gets only one review. I've written five reviews for one chapter once.

Anyway, read on:

* * *

I was so shocked that my mind refused to work. Alister's son? I had never thought that I would ever find another Lombax again. I was obviously wrong. But the main to do now was to get out. Alive.

'Come on. We've gotta get out of here,' I said, feeling the result of my torture with every step of the way. Especially the scars and my fur being torn off. I was going to make them pay. I was going to get them back if it killed me in the process.

I saw that although he didn't complain, Remy was in excessive big pain. He had huge thick scars snaking down his arms and legs and his eyes were crimson red. From the Jericritium Jynoltium. This was one tough Lombax. Really tough.

'I'll help you now,' I said, putting his arm around my shoulder to support him. 'Well get home soon. This nightmare will be over.'

'Mate, don't underestimate Firo,' he said. 'He's Satan his-self. He will not stop until he gets you. He will burn you alive, he was going to do it to me in a few hours, and he still might if we've caught.'

I realized that we were still in danger. 'Hurry up Talwyn,' I said, ignoring the pain where my fur was ripped off. Remy started walking faster and more strongly. So did Talwyn. Maybe we might get there without being seen. Of course, that wasn't about to happen.

I saw that three of them stood in the hallway. They all were carrying long poles. With an inlombax yell he jumped to unbelievable height and kicked every one of them in the face. They all got knocked to the floor in dazed heap.

'Where did you learn to do that?' I asked Remy who was picking the sticks off the ground.

'Secret.' He threw one of the staffs to me and one to Talwyn. I caught it just in time.

'Let's beat the crap out of them now,' he said, running ahead. I followed him quickly.

I saw Remy was swinging the pole with knifes on the end of them around at more of them. He attacked them mercilessly, slicing and striking them down with supreme power. I joined in, killing more them quickly.

When the path was clear we all ran past a large room. We stopped as we came near it.

'What's this?' I asked. But I didn't need to. The room as had a metal table in the middle of the room with multiple straps on it. Then there were tubes above the table. The tubes were connected to a huge vat.

'What's those tubes?' Talwyn asked.

Remy spat on the floor. 'They're connected to the vat filled with burning hot wax. They'll strap you down and pour hot wax down on you. Sometimes over your whole body. It's so hot that it takes half an hour to settle. I spent three days there. They even poured it in my mouth.'

'The bastards,' I growled. 'The ----ing bastards.'

'No kidding,' he spat once again. 'Let's get out of here.'

We ran out and into another room. We stopped in our tracks. In the room were fifty of them. They were all armed. In the centre were Jokola and Firo. Jokola had large staff in his hand. A more vicious one than mine.

'Are our pet Lombaxes trying to escape?' asked Jokola. 'I love some entertainment.'

'How about I castrate you? That would be some entertainment,' Remy said. I stared in shock. This Lombax was foul mouthed alright.

'You got no manners boy!' Jokola shouted, evidently pissed off. 'I'm going to challenge you to a duel. You win, you go. You lose, we'll slowly torture all three of you with the painful ways possible. We won't kill you either. Years slow of torture. You can always back out.'

'I accept.' Remy took a step forward. 'Don't do it!' I shouted. 'It's a trap.'

'Watch.' Remy was obviously confident enough. Maybe he could win, but I doubted the Cragmites would keep their promise.

I felt someone grab me from behind. 'You're not going to help or get involved in anyway,' one of them hissed. They dragged me over to a table that was standing up but slightly tilted back. They shoved me against it and clamped heavy metal straps around my wrists, ankles, legs, elbows, waist, and even neck. Then they placed duck tape over my mouth. Then one of them punched me painfully in the stomach. I was in no move to double up though. I saw that Talwyn was caressed by everyone else against her will. There was nothing I could do. I turned and watched.

'One of us will be one the stairway to heaven. The other on highway to hell. Let's start.' Jokola took a step forward. He and Remy then fought. They swung their deadly staffs like swords at each other, trying to get past the other's weapon.

'I made these weapons,' Jokola snarled. 'And I practice with them three hours a day.'

'You need to find yourself a girl, mate,' Remy responded. He knocked Jokola to the ground, but in the process he slipped. They both got to their feet.

'Maybe you practice three hours a day because you don't know how to "woo" said strongly,' Remy said while everyone (except me, the one with duck tape on his mouth) laughed.

'I train three hours a day because when I meet a Lombax, I can kill him!' Jokola shouted as Remy did a 360 turn and sharp swing.

'How very interesting,' Remy said as Jokola got knocked to the ground. Remy then gripped his hands together and muttered something. He then flexed his back and made his hands into fists. He said something that I couldn't hear, but everyone that did hear turned pale and stepped away. This was going to be interesting.

The room darkened. A gust of wind came through. Electricity sparkled through the air. Remy suddenly jumped up in the air, and stayed there, suspended five metres of the ground. He flexed his back again and spun around. Electricity flowed to and from his hands. The deadly staffs came to his hands from the ground. He started spinning faster and faster, until he was almost a blur. He had his weapon stuck out as far as he could. The whole room almost seemed Overflowing with power. He then slammed down, both of his weapons striking Jokola in the head. Then the whole room turned bright purple, and then the electricity went out.

Seconds later it came back on. Jokola was lying sprawled out on the floor. Blood dripping from his head. I gave a sigh of relief. Remy had won.

Firo was so angry now. 'Feed them both the Jericritium Jynoltium. And sprinkle them with oil now!' My whole body went cold and my fur felt like toothpicks. Remy was being strapped down next to me in the same way I was. A tube was being hooked up to my mouth and locked in. My armour was stripped away and my body was covered in oil. I had never been more scared in my life. Then they replaced the armour.

Talwyn was begging and screaming to let us go, but Firo wasn't even listening.

'Feed them the Jericritium Jynoltium, then set them alight,' Firo said. The machines were turned on. I saw the Jericritium Jynoltium start forcing itself down the tube. I tested my straps and bonds. 100% as tight as always.

I closed my eyes. I gave up. I let it come.

* * *

I'm going to keep you in suspense for a while. I wrote all this in a single sitting. I can again if more reviews come in.

R&R!


	11. Fire Or Water?

I know, I know, first person view again. But I rather enjoy being in the body of a Lombax. Please don't review me just to tell me that I've done FP again. Please review on the other elements in the fanfic.

Thanks all!

* * *

I knew that it was going to be the final moments of my life. I was going to be forced an endless stream of chili and then I was going to be burned alive. I was going to suffer and pay the ultimate price.

And what had I done that I would die like this? Nothing, and yet, here I was, about to enter into unimaginable torture.

I opened my eyes, surprised that the chili had not yet come. My body was dripping with oil, soaking into my fur and driving me crazy already.

'I have been waiting a long time to do this,' Firo said, his hand inches away from the button that would cause me torture for the rest of my short life. 'Torturing you by burning alive. I love torturing you Lombaxes. You enjoy being tortured as well.'

'How exactly do we enjoy being tortured?' Remy shouted.

'By getting in our way, by foiling our plans,' Firo said back. 'And now you're going to both pay, now. Goodbye, and while your fur is set on fire and buckets of chili are forced down your throat, think about what we'll be doing to this universe that you tried to protect.'

His hand reached towards the button. A tear dripped from eye and fell down onto my fur, now turned a dark brown in places from the oil. I knew that I was going to die in a few seconds.

'NO! RATCHET!!!!! PLEASE NO!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!' Talwyn was screaming in tears. The others held her gleefully. I seethed with emotion that could not be described under any circumstances.

'Farewell Lombaxes!' Firo's hand out stretched to the button. I closed my eyes. This was the end of my life.

'Wait.' The word rang out with surprising strength. I opened my eyes. Sakata was now standing there next to Firo.

'What the hell is it?' he asked. 'I want to burn the Lombaxes alive right now. I don't have time for this.'

'It's not what you think,' Sakata said. 'I have a better idea than killing them.'

'I want to kill them!' Firo shouted. 'I want to kill them, and then I want to torture them!'

'Shut up,' Sakata said. 'That's stupid for a number of reasons. You can't torture them after you kill them, and you sound like a whining child. Second, there's a better idea than killing them.'

'Like what?'

Sakata bent down and whispered something in Firo's ear. I couldn't hear what it was, but I was certain that it could only mean more pain and more suffering.

Firo smiled, and then turned to us, saying, 'okay Lombaxes, I'll make you a deal. If you can escape from the place where you wake up from, we won't kill or torture you. We'll do something else. But if you don't get out' he paused for effect. I never liked that, and this confirmed it 'you won't ever get out. So then you have a slight chance of escape from here.'

He beckoned to someone behind him. 'Inject them with something to knock 'em out for a few hours.'

They went to Remy first and unstrapped him from the table, but before they could do anything, he punched one of them in the face, grabbed a bucket of boiling water and through it on them, and started attacking again. He then grabbed the deadly staff up from the ground, and before anyone could do anything he ran up to one of them and hit them with the staff so that they propelled up five metres above the ground. He then jumped up to that height and both of them were suspended in the air. He then started slashing and smashing him with the staff, still suspended in the same place as he was. It must have been something paranormal for him to do that.

He then dropped to the ground and threw anything he could get his hands on around. Buckets, mops, knifes, metal crowbars, even a chainsaw. I had to look away as it landed on someone while it was turned on.

He threw a chair in Firo's direction; he thus turned to the left a few seconds before the chair smashed into the wall. Firo would have been killed if he had not dodged it in time.

I could only pointlessly struggle and watch as Remy created a path of destruction. I wished I could be there fighting alongside him.

I had high hopes that we would be able to escape, but my heart sank when Remy was tackled to the ground when his hand was half an inch away from the button that would free me from the table.

One of the Cragmites went to him with a giant syringe and plunged into ruthlessly into Remy's open neck. He yelled out in pain before dropping to the floor without moving.

He struggled once I saw that he was coming to me with another syringe, but there was nothing I could do as he ejected into me. I screamed out in extreme pain.

'It's a huge overdose,' I heard Firo say as I dropped to sleep. 'My some miracle that you do wake up, you'll be too sluggish to escape. But don't worry, if you knew what we had in store for you, you would never want to wake up again. . . . . .'

Hours later. . . . . .

I was slumped on a cold hard surface, summoning me back to this dimension. I tried to move a limb. I could. It was not tied down. What a nice surprise.

I opened my eyes, fearing what I would see.

I was in a huge green container. The view was blocked from the inside my some special protection, so I couldn't see what was outside.

I noticed that Remy was also in the container with me. I felt sluggish and drowsy. Probably from the overdose.

I tried to hit the green wall. It didn't budge.

The container was relatively small; I was squashed up against Remy's warm body. The one good thing about having fur was that it always kept me warm. The bad thing though was that I could be set on fire by my fur.

Remy started to wake up soundlessly. He looked around at our prison.

'Well, what I nice surprise,' he said.

'Nice?' I asked. 'How the hell is this nice?'

He held up his hand as he spoke. He reminded me of Jack Spearrow from Pirates of the Carribbovus. 'Well mate, we're not tied down, and we're still alive. This is the first time in a month that I've woken up and I haven't been tied down facing another day of torture.'

'And how do we know this isn't torture now?' I asked.

'We don't, now do we, mate?'

I growled in frustration. This was going nowhere. Then I started feeling ticklish.

'I feel tinglily,' I said.

'Don't say that while your pressed up against me!' Remy said. 'No, wait. I feel it to.'

I looked down and saw my worst nightmare. There was water rising from the bottom.

In a few minutes, it would rise above our heads. We would never make it out alive. We were in store for the worst death imaginable.

* * *

Didn't see that coming did you? Will they make it out alive? The more reviews I get, the better than chance of you finding out sooner. Thanks to Swordsman289 who was brave enough to mention me in the final chapter of one of his R&C fanfics. Thanks mate, and thanks to everyone reading.


	12. Fourty Hours Too Far

Another emotional chapter. You may have tears though. . .

* * *

'What are we going to do!' I shouted out miserably. 'We can't escape!'

Remy seemed to be frozen, not moving, not saying anything. I shouted at him again. Then he came to his senses.

'I don't know!' he said. 'There must be a way to get out. There must be.'

'Like what?' I screamed. The water was rising above my knees now. In half a minute it would rise above my head.

Remy didn't say anything. Her plunged to the bottom, twisting to make space in the cramped area.

Twenty seconds passed. The water was now up to my chest. Out of the ways I thought I would die, being trapped in container filling with water as in a scene out of Sore VII wasn't on my list.

He came back up suddenly. 'There are two wires down there!' he shouted. 'I can cut one of them and we can get out of here!'

'Which wire?' I shouted out. The water had reached my throat now. 'How do you know which one is the right one?'

'You can tell, can you, mate?' Then he was gone. I said a silent prayer that we would make it out.

Remy had the two wires in his hand. One red one blue. He cut the blue one with his teeth. I waited.

The water suddenly rose above my head three times faster. He had cut the wrong wire.

The walls were closing in now. There was less space and we both had no air. It was the end.

Remy didn't seem to think so. Since we were both squashed together our arms had become unusable. Remy had one arm free though.

I saw that he reached out to the red wire with his hand. The wire was a centimeter away. He couldn't reach it. With some paranormal ability the wire came to his hand. He then used two of his fingers to cut the wire. He cut it. Nothing happened. I was on my last second of air. I shut my eyes. Nothing could save us now.

Suddenly the container exploded opens. Water spreading everywhere as we drifted into a large room where the container stood. I took the most grateful breath of air I had ever taken I my life. We made it out.

Remy was already standing up while I was still spread out of the cold floor. He reached a hand out to me.

'Let's go.' He hoisted me up. I was still shaking. I was probably shaking since I woke up.

We turned in the doorway and saw them all there.

'Bravo my dear Lombaxes,' Firo said, making a mock attempt at clapping. Not easy with Cragmite hands. 'You survived something no one else as ever survived. Now as your gift, we're going to take you somewhere where you'll be looked after.

'And where would this be?' Remy snapped back. 'Satan's lair?'

'Oh, I wouldn't say that,' Firo said as two of his minions stuck guns in our faces. 'It's only a forty hour flight to a little corner in the Solona Galaxy called Beullibeub Lagrimas Negras.'

My head shot up. It was a place where the only people there where the most blood thirsty criminals in the whole universe lived. Some of the planets there were only used for hostages and torture. I started shaking again. Remy didn't though. I wondered why.

'Let's get a move on then,' Firo said, leading the way to the hangar where a huge ship stood. He led the way in. We followed, aware of the guns pointing at our backs.

He led the way in a small chamber on the ship. In the center of the room were two stiff backed leather chairs, sitting back to back. They prodded with the gun so I was forced to sit down. Remy was as well, although I couldn't see him as we were back to back. They then came over to me and strapped my hands down to the armrest. Then they did the same with my feet and legs. To make matters worse they strapped my body to the chair with a thick seat belt that came from over my shoulders and up from where I was sitting and connected in the middle with a tight lock. I heard Remy getting the same treatment. To make matters worse they then locked the chairs together. We were in really deep trouble.

'Everybody out,' said Firo. 'I want to talk to the Lombax alone.'

Everybody walked out. I saw that Jokola wanted nothing more than to torture us eternally. I shivered despite my fur.

Firo came up to me and rested his hands on my shoulders. I would have backed up but I couldn't. Obviously.

'We're taking you someone that will take almost forty hours to get to,' he said. I knew that I was going to suffer every second of it but somehow I kept a brave face on. 'We'll have cryosleep. But not you. We'll also inject Raiyrix into your bloodstream to that you have absolutely no chance of sleeping a second of the journey.'

I said nothing. No more words, no more tears were left inside me. I had gone through a whole week, maybe more of torture. I could only breathe. I couldn't think. I was filled with nothing.

Firo reached into his pocket and brought out a syringe. He inhumanly plunged it into me with extreme pain. When he did I felt bursting with energy. I felt as if I needed to run for weeks and not stop. I felt as I couldn't sit still. But of course I had to. That was part of the torture.

He did the same with Remy then he pressed a few buttons on the wall and then left it.

I felt the chairs heating up. He had made the chairs heat up. The room was as well. I rested my head back. I had never felt more exhausted and drained in my whole life. Never. I heard Remy lie back as well, his body pressed up against mine through the chair.

I don't know how long we stayed like that. It must have been hours and hours. Sitting there, strapped down and unable to move. It was agony. We just lay there without saying a word. We knew that we would most likely experience pain and torture for the rest of our lives. We both knew it. Suddenly the injection kicked in again and I was bursting with energy. Then I relaxed again. I thought about the Apogee Station. Clank, Cronk, and Zephyr. I called my memoires of The Great Clock, Orvus, Sigmund, and the Zoni. Alister Azimuth.

My friends, my home that I would never see again.

I felt a tiny nibble on my cheek. It felt like a like scratch on my fur. I then realized that it was my own tear. Why would I cry?

Even as I thought about it my whole body heaved in a great sob and the next moment there were tears flooding down my face with no end. I shouldn't have thought about my old life. Even as I thought this even more tears erupted from my eyes. I was so depressed and so upset. I would never get home. I would never see Clank again. Or Cronk. Or Zephyr. Or the Apogee Station, or the Aphelion.. . . .. .

I then cried even more. There was nothing more for me to do. Just cry forever and ever. Eternal sadness was all that was left for me. I would never get home. There was nothing left for me to do. Nothing I could ever do.

'Goodbye everyone,' I said, silently so Remy wouldn't hear me. 'Goodbye old friends and old life. Goodbye Talwyn. Goodbye Clank. Forever. . . .'

I started weeping ever harder for eternity.

* * *

Did you have tears streaming down your face? If so then I did my job. I think that I'm the most darkest and most "dramatised" R&C writer here, not that it means I'm the best at all.

R&R. . . .


	13. Flight To Nowhere

Thanks for all your reviews. Another emotional chapter...

* * *

I never thought that I could ever have enough tears in my body to generate what came out of my eyes. But it did. It came out like a cascade of a waterfall. I had no shame and no realism to outside my own pain. It was all gone. Normally when a person is about to die, they feel warm and comfortable. It's a pure lie. You feel cold, miserable, and void of emotion. I knew that I was going to die a slow, painful death and that nothing short of a miracle could prevent it.

'We can do this,' Remy said as he tried to turn his head around. 'We can get away. We can. We just need to hold on to hope.'

'There's nothing we can do!' I shouted with a surprisingly strong voice. 'It's over. Accept it. So just shut up.'

'So you don't want to know about your father and the Lombaxes?' He said.

I stopped at once. If there was any time in the world I needed to hear this, it was now.

'What do you know?' I asked.

'My father never knew about me,' Remy said quietly. 'He hooked up with a girl Lombax one night when he was a lot younger. When I was born she left me at a foster home with my name and who my father was. I never met him. I escaped from the foster because they mistreated everyone there. Especially Lombaxes. I've been living on my own all over the universe for years now.'

'How did you find out about Alister dying?' I asked.

'I was searching for him. I followed you to Zanifar, Lumos, even Morklon. I tried to get to the Great Clock before he got killed, but seeing you there kneeing down over him, I just didn't have the courage to stroll in there. I left and went to Kerwan where the Cragmites were waiting. They were looking for Lombaxes and they saw that I had coordinates to the Great Clock. They tried to hack it but it got destroyed before they could hack. Someone placed a self-destruct bomb in the ship. I don't know who. They been torturing me for a month now. Every day it was more and more painful. They were going to burn me alive today. You saved my life.'

'You also saved mine,' I said. 'But what about those powers you displayed. Were they' I searched for the word 'black magic?'

'No,' he said. 'They're abilities that I learned from a Lombax book in the Zoni temple on Lumos.'

'You mean I walked straight passed it?' I said. 'I walked straight past powers of the unknown that I could have saved your father's life with?'

He didn't say anything. I wondered if his cool interior had been disturbed but then he said, 'it doesn't matter, mate. The only thing that matters now is that we make it out in one piece.'

'I don't know where we're going, but I know that it's not going to be pleasant,' I said. 'Do you think they might torture us again?'

'I don't know,' he said. 'But I've been to this place, and it's not what it seems. It looks like a resort sector.'

'A resort sector?' I asked. 'What are planning to do? Torture us in a hotel room?'

'I don't know,' he said. 'But I do know that the resort sector is called Beullibeub Lagrimas Negras and that there's a planet there that's a tropical paradise.'

'So they're going to take us to the most blood thirsty place in the galaxy and send us to a resort planet?'

'Who said it was a resort planet?' he said. 'It may be a tropical paradise, but it is still is runs by blood thirsty criminals. They'll probably hand us over there to be tortured.'

I felt a nibble on my cheek again. I knew what it was as it rolled down my face. I didn't bother trying to conceal it. It was the end more me. A painful and long suffering death for eternity. But I was damned not going to give in yet. If I was going to die, I wasn't going to die alone. The Cragmites were coming with me with every bloody and painful step of the way. This was now my goal.

'We should try and get some rest,' Remy said, trying to twist in his chair. 'We've got a long journey ahead of us.'

'How are we supposed to get to sleep after he injected us with Raiyrix?' I asked. 'Plus, my fur's wept and I can't get to sleep like that.'

'Just try,' he said.

We sat there are hours. I couldn't keep track of the time, and I couldn't go anywhere. The minutes and seconds went by faster and faster. I must have drifted into some sort of half-sleep but woken out of it somehow. I turned my head to the side, wishing the chair was resting back a bit. It was as straight as possible. Hint, if you're ever held prisoner for weeks and strapped to a chair and blasted off into space for hours, remember to recline the chair. You won't regret it.

It must have been ages when Remy suddenly said, 'tell me about my dad.'

'He was a brave guy,' I said, happy to break the silence. Then I told him about everything we did, and everything he said.

'And he didn't know I existed?' Remy asked.

'No,' I said.

'I hope I can found out my real name,' Remy said.

'Wait,' I said suddenly. 'It's not your real name? Then why do you have this one?'

(A/N: Normally he would say, "Because the name is short for the name of the person who created me and who's writing this fanfiction" but I don't think it suits the image, now does it? So He'll say this…..)

'I made it up,' he said. 'All I know is that it's not my real one, and that yours isn't either.'

'I know that,' I said. 'I'd love to know what my real one is.'

'Somehow I don't think the Cragmites will tell us,' He said.

We then tried to get some rest while exchanging stories about our lives. I told him everything. About everything from when I met Clank to meeting Angela to Sasha, to going to DreadZone station. I told him everything.

(A/N: I'm not sure if this will is correct, because the only Ratchet games I've EVER played are ToD and ACiT. So my information is based on Wikipedia. So be nice!)

He then told me about his life. How he had gotten out of the foster home and stolen a space shuttle and crashed on Kerwan, he basically told me everything. I loved listening to him, but I still had raw fear inside me. Of what was next for us. I tried to drown it in conversation but it was still there. But I was ready. I was going to take whatever these demons threw at us next. I was ready.

He stopped talking. I tried to fall asleep but I could only manage a semi-coma. I had some dreams but they weren't good ones. You can guess what they were about. I imagined everything that we could go through. Scenes from Sore VI and Hossel (Saw VI and Hostel!), us being water drowned, being stretched on a table, being sealed in an air lock, every single torture method passed through my head, flowing like an electric river.

I jumped up with a shock and then lay back, breathing heavily, my fur like toothpicks. Out of creatures, but did I have to be a Lombax? Especially a Lombax that went through this. Did I enjoy being a Lombax? Yes. Did I enjoy going through this? No. That was the simple answer.

'How long has it been?' I asked.

'I have no idea. 10 hours at least, though.'

'How are we going to survive the next 30 hours?' I asked incredulously.

'We'll make it a little harder,' said a voice. My blood ran cold.

Jokola and Sakata stood in the doorway, Jokola's head was bleeding and he was hungry for blood. My blood. Lombax blood.

'For the remaining 5 hours of the trip, I'm going to make you suffer,' Jokola said. I breathed a sigh of relief. We had made it through 35 hours. 5 more hours of hell to go through.

'Now how shall we start?' Jokola asked, coming into my chair and grabbing my neck. He squeezed it and ripped a large portion of hair out of it. I yelled out in pain.

'That's a good start,' he said. 'But we want it to be slow and painful. Don't we?'

'Yes, you do.' I could tell that Sakata didn't approve of this. I wondered why we had gone to sleep even though we were given an anti-sleep. I thought I realized why.

Jokola unstrapped my arms and legs and grabbed me by the neck again. It felt could to stand up after 35 hours of not moving a single limb.

He dragged me to a small cylinder room in the corner. He made me stand in it and he strapped my hands to the bar high above my head. He then locked my ankles to the ground. My arms were feeling the strain already.

'You can stay like that until we arrive,' Jokola said happily. He touched something on the side on the cylinder and the room started heating up. I was sweating already after ten seconds.

He wanted out of the room, though he punched Remy in the chest first. He looked so pleased with himself. Sakata though stayed in the room. He came to the cylinder and injected me with a syringe. I felt the pain go and I felt sleepy. I mouthed the words, "thank you" and he gave a watery smile.

I fell asleep a few seconds later.

5 hours later.. .. . . .

I awoke to find my arms in searing pain. They had been held high above my head for five hours. I looked at Remy.

'We're here,' he said.

We are about to find out what hell was really like. I braced myself for the worst.

* * *

I bet you want to find out what happens next. Here's a clue: Expect the Unexpected. . .


	14. Lagrimas Negras

I tried to peer out the fogged up window. From what I could see we had landed on a planet that had a jungle, palm trees, and turquoise water with golden sands surrounding it, forming a beach. I wondered why they had bought us to a resort planet for extra torture. It looked as if they were going to use the beach as a torture base. But somehow I doubted it.

Firo strode into the room; his black hands were tingling with joy. I shivered.

'So my deary Lombaxes, this is where you're going to spend the rest of your miserable lives in captivity and pain. I can't wait for it,' he rubbed his hands with almost exaggerated joy.

I said nothing. I had nothing to say. Remy didn't though, but what he did say was and is unprintable.

A Cazar came aboard the ship and into the room. He took a look at me and Remy, one of us strapped painfully to a chair, the other hung by his arms in agony. He didn't look impressed.

'Why are you doing this to them?' he asked Firo. 'You knew what our orders are.'

'I'm sorry, we should have treated them as if they weren't prisoners or something like that?'

'Hurukan wants them in perfect condition,' he said coldly. 'You knew that.'

'"Perfect condition"? Do they have to be treated nicely before they're tortured do they?'

'What gave you the idea that we're going to torture them at all?'

Until now every single one of my hairs of my fur were like toothpicks, they died down now. Maybe we weren't going to die after all.

'Doesn't he want to know where The Great Clock is?' Firo asked in amazement. 'We've been torturing them for a week now. We thought you were going to get the information out of them.'

'What you do out of our bounds is your affair. What you think we're going to do in our bounds is a completely different matter.' He pointed to me. 'You failed to bring out the information from them and you brought them here to us. It is now done, they are in our care and you have no say about it.'

'And how does your Hurukan expect to get the Great Clock in his hands?'

'We'll leave that up to you,' the Cazar said stiffly. 'But what is done is done and they belong to us now. So tough luck.'

'We still have the girl though,' Firo said, knowing what my reaction would be.

'NO!' I shouted, struggling to get out of my straps. 'Please, take me instead.'

'First of all, my dear Lombaxy, you don't really mean that and everyone here knows that. Second, we won't torture her, she too precious for that. We'll just get a truth serum.'

'Why couldn't you use one on us then?' I yelled.

'Well, because we didn't feel like it, and we hate Lombaxes and love torture, so we felt like torturing you as painfully as possible because we felt like it. That just about sums it up.'

My eyes went wide as I realized that our getting locked in confined spaces, our fur being ripped out, getting punched in the face, knives slashed across our skin, boiling water being shot at us, wax poured over us, being locked in a container filling with water, getting strapped to chairs with no rest for forty hours, and almost being burned alive and bucket full's of chilli being stuffed down our throats could have all been avoided if these sick, disgusting creatures didn't like torture. Angry burned through me like a lava river.

'YOU BASTARD!' I shouted at the top of my lungs. 'YOU SON OF A SEVEN LEGGED PIG! YOU MOTHERF-'

'Enough.' The Cazar's single word rang clear in my head and I stopped shouting. I was out of breath and I hadn't even started yet. A tear dripped down my armour.

'We'll take them now,' he said. He walked over to me and released the straps holding me in the air by my arms. I dropped to the floor, my arms aching like never before. He did the same with my legs. He then released Remy.

The Cazar walked off the ship with us behind him. I had stopped crying, my eyes no longer contained enough energy to channel tears.

We walked after him, our boots crunching on the golden sand beneath our feet. The planet had three suns, all of them shining brightly as I shielded my eyes. He led the way to an open air villa. He led us inside and stood by the door. We sat down on the leather chairs.

A man was sitting opposite us. He wasn't a Cragmite, he wasn't a Cazar, or a Blaarg. He was part human but different somehow. His skin was much darker and his were deep blue. He looked at us with fascination.

'My name is Hurukan,' he said suddenly, his clear and faultless voice ringing throughout the room. 'I am the owner of this planet. Do you know where you are?'

I said nothing, not trusting myself to speak. Remy was about to open his smart mouth but Hurukan's emotionless theme made him think twice it.

'This place is called "Lagrimas Negras". It translated as "Black Tears".'

(A/N: The Spanish translation of "Lagrimas Negras" does really mean "Black Tears". Not that I speak Spanish though. I am far too ignorant for that!)

'It was originally a hidden planet built for extreme interrogation. We still have the torture machines and torture runs even though we don't use any except one. They are a reminder of the old days. But you're not here for that. You are here because those Cragmites brought you against your will. This planet is a place where criminals come with blood on their hands and bolts in their pockets. They stay here, away from the world, hidden from the Galactic Authorities in an eternal paradise. They live every day without fear of capture and torture. It's not free of course and we have extremely strict rules. Anyone who comes here can never leave. Anyone trying to leave or disobey the rules will be put through various runs or punishing warehouses. But you both are here because those Cragmites wanted you to go to the next level of torture here. Well, we only use torture for the disobedient, and you've gone through enough torture already. They wanted to squeeze the Great Clock's location so that they have given it to me in exchange for my highest treasures here and eternal life in paradise.'

I felt my fur were it had been ripped out and where the dried up blood from the knives still hadn't healed. I felt the countless other injuries. They nearly burned us alive just because they wanted to live on a resort and enjoy life to the full while ours was destroyed. I hated them even more now. If that was even possible.

'So that you're here we'll take care of you,' he said. 'We'll tend to your injuries and give you rooms here. We'll decide what is to be done with you when the Cragmites get back with The Great Clock's location.'

'Let me guess, we can't ever leave here can we?' Remy said.

'I didn't say that. You cannot leave until they get back. They may be not for a week, a month, a year, ten years, or even if they never return. For now you'll be here and we'll take care of you both.'

'The Great Clock will disrupt the very fabric of existence and time,' I said. 'You will destroy the entire universe including your planet where you're playing God.'

'I am sure that I can take considerable care of it,' he said, no anger raising in his voice I but I could tell that he didn't appreciate being mocked.

We stood up from the chairs. The Cazar was still standing there. We started to walk away when he called me back.

'Ratchet, let me look at something,' he said. I walked over to him. He took my arm and ripped the armour off it. My fur was still wet from when we were locked in the room filling with water. He touched the places where my fur was ripped out and where the knife had ruthlessly been sliced across my fur.

'You're a tough Lombax,' he said. 'I've never touched a Lombax before. I'm glad to have touched such a brave one up close.'

'Don't get used to it,' I said, pulling my arm back.

'You may think of me as an evil person but I am not,' he said. 'I am doing the universe a favour and ridding their criminals from them.' He turned to the Cazar and said, 'show them their rooms and take care of their injuries.'

He nodded, leading the way for us to follow out to the beach.

I had no idea that we were in for the most challenging test yet. It just hadn't come yet.


	15. Superglue

I bet you think that Ratchet and Remy are safe. In fact, they've never been in more danger.. . .

* * *

The rooms were huge, open air floating villas looking out towards the sea and the golden sands. It looked like paradise. Looked.

I knew that every single person on this island was a blood thirsty criminal, and rules were extremely strict. Hurukan had talked of a "house" and a "rat run". He had said that it was still used, and I that anyone being disobedient would go through it. He had thought that our torture was average, so what he knew would be in the rat run was impossible to compare what we went through, including being burned alive. Unimaginable horrors were in there, and it scared me that if we tried anything we would be going there.

I let out a long breath. After being tortured for weeks, we were given the ultimate relaxation methods, including spas, massages, and mud springs. (Lombaxes love them!)

My fur smelled of oranges and spices. They had given us special soaps, and it seemed that it had soaked into my fur strongly. Not that I minded, I liked the smell.

Remy came into the room. He had used his soap so much that the smell of lemon and lime was traceable from five meters away. It was an extremely pleasant smell.

I got my first chance to look at him. He looked a lot like me; except his fur was a darker gold and his stripes were raven black. His emerald tinted eyes shone with craftiness. He reminded me of the brother Lombax I never had. Or so I thought.

'So,' he said, 'this is what they called "hell". It isn't that hellish, the tropical beach and palm trees take away an amount of the horrors here, do they not?'

I said nothing. I was thinking about Talwyn. Where she was, what she was doing, and even if she was alive.

They were going to destroy the universe. . . .

I jumped up and started pacing. 'We have to get off this island,' I said. 'The universe will be destroyed if we don't.'

'Uh, mate,' Remy said, 'I'm not sure you realized this but there is no way off this planet, and if we try to escape we'll be tortured, and we won't make it out alive.'

'What do you mean?' I asked.

He drew a breath. 'I've been talking to the Cazar, those who make it out of the runs alive are free to leave the planet.'

'Really?' I asked. 'And how many people have made it out alive?'

'There have been tens of thousands of people who went through the runs, and only their ghosts have made it out alive.'

'Then it's out of the question,' I said. 'Although no one has ever escaped the Cragmites' torture chambers until we came along.'

'I'm not sure you realize this, but we've been tortured for weeks, me for months. I can't handle it anymore. We came seconds to being burned alive and chili forced down our throats. Seconds. What do you think Hurukan has in store for us, hum?'

'We can do it,' I said. 'We can.'

'I am not going through that torture again,' Remy shouted.

'But we survived, and we're not feeling the after effects now.'

'You're not,' he said. 'I am. They cut a piece of my tail off. They were going to do the whole thing. Jokola was going to either saw it off or pull it off.' He turned around and I saw that the very tip of his tail was cut off at the side, meaning the bushy part at the end was missing half of his fur and skin. I grimaced.

'They also sliced my hand open, pulled my teeth out with pliers, covered areas of my fur with glue and then ripped it off, hung me upside down for a week, and they neared forced a pin through my eye. And you want me to go through all that again?'

I was speechless with shock. I had never guessed that this had happened to him. I felt a tear welling to my eye. That had nearly happened to both of us. I blinked it away.

'So that's it then?' I asked. 'We let the universe fall to ruin, just because of us two Lombaxes? It's too risky.'

'Risk is what makes us who we are,' he said.

'You sound just like your father,' I said, instantly regretting it.

'What?' He shouted the single word before jumping on me and pinning to the floor. He pressed a knee to my stomach and placed his face inches away from mine.

'Don't you ever, ever say that again,' he whispered. 'I'm a bastard's son of a bastard who nearly destroyed the universe because he thought it was right. We'll find another way to escape. We will.'

With that he got up. His knee was like steel and I had trouble breathing after he had shoved it against my chest.

He walked out of the room and left me sitting there, wondering how the hell we were going to get out of here.

I decided to explore the planet a bit. After putting my armor back on (I wasn't taking any chances) I went outside.

The island was a tropical paradise, with crystal clear water and golden sands beneath green palm trees and plants that I hadn't even seen before in my life. The planet's three suns shone brightly on my back.

I came to an open café villa, it was packed with people. It took me about three seconds to realize that every single person there was tough, and they didn't look if as they were going to be meddled with. I squirmed under one or two of their gazes. My armor felt tight and stuffy suddenly. My throat was dry.

I walked past them, trying not to get noticed and keeping my head down, hoping not to get noticed.

If only something like that would ever happen.

Five of them stood in my way. The first was a Cazar, two were humans, one was a green alien, the other was a species that I didn't recognize.

'Well, look what we have here. A Lombax,' the Cazar said, blocking my way. This wasn't going to end pleasantly. That much I knew.

'I'm going somewhere,' I said, trying to step around him, but was blocked by one of the humans.

'Yes,' he said. 'But where we want to take you is completely different from where you're going.'

I tried to take a step back, but I found that my way was blocked. Why should have I expected anything else?

'We're going to show you around here,' the Cazar said, 'and we'll make sure that you don't get any funny ideas in our territory.'

'I'd rather not,' I said.

'I'd rather you did,' the other human snarled. The Unknown species sniggered.

'Come on now,' he said, trying to hoist me up by under my arms. When he did, I drove a powerful punch into his face and a swipe kick to his side. He fell to the ground at once.

I tried to turn around, but I felt myself being grabbed in a locked position. I tried to struggle but it was fruitless.

'Let's teach you a little lesson,' the Cazar said, tightening his hold on me. 'Get some ropes, duct tape and glue.'

I had a well educated guess on what he was going to do with those tools, I tried to struggle out of his grip again but it was hopeless. He was too strong.

They led me through the thick jungle and through the heat. I was sweating in the first five seconds of my journey. These guys looked as cool as ice. I wondered what they considered hot. I didn't want to find out.

We came to a small clearing in the jungle. There was a metal chair fastened to the ground. The human and the unknown species were already there with the requested items. I saw them covering the chair from top to bottom with the superglue. I realized what was about to happen to me.

Suddenly the Cazar shoved me in the chair. I tried to get up, but the glue that covered every section of the chair stuck fast to my armor. It was impossibly strong, like an invisible hand of steel was holding me back. My arms and legs were stuck tight to the intended positions. They all laughed at me.

'Let's make this a little more fun for us, shall we?' said the Cazar, grabbing the rope and tape. He placed a thick amount of tape over my mouth. He did the same to my arms, legs and waists. Then he used the rope.

As the glue wasn't enough, now it was impossible to move, and I doubted they were going to release me anytime soon.

'See you when you get out, Lombax,' said one of the human as they ran off, leaving me struggling to get out of the chair.

I sighed. When would I ever learn to keep my mouth shut?

I looked up at the bright sky that was beginning to darken. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

I know, I know, how many more times is Ratchet going to be tied down for more suffering? Don't worry, you haven't seen anything yet as Ratchet's nightmare comes true.


	16. Posession

I'm afraid I've decieved you all, my name ISN'T Remy. I wish it was, but my name is something far more bland than that!

Anyway, to the story. .

* * *

As soon as they were gone I struggled to get free. I had no chance. The glue was sealed fast to my armor and it covered every part of it. There was nothing I could do. Yet.

I saw that the other islanders were approaching me. I tried to get their attention. I got it alright, but I didn't want the attention that they gave me.

'Oh, look what we have here,' one of them said. Couldn't they think of anything better to say? He wondered behind me and brutally stepped on my tail with his boot.

The pain was pure agony. My tail was just about the most sensitive part of my body, and he squashed it between his boot and the solid ground.

He did it again, this time using the heel of his shoe, aiming at an angle for maximum pain. I would have shouted out except there was a thick piece of duck tape covering my mouth. He did it again, and again. Tears were swelling in my eyes. What had I done to deserve this?

'I have an idea,' the other one said. He grabbed my tail and tied a knot on the side of the chair. He then did a double knot and pulled it agonizingly to tighten it. I had never gone through something so demeaning and something that made me feel angrier.

They laughed at my pain. They walked off, satisfied with their work that they had painfully inflicted on me.

I saw the sky darkening. Clouds where forming. Rain was approaching. This was going to be a long and painful night.

'Ratchet?' Remy said as he came in the villa, calling my name. No answer. At this point he had no clue of my whereabouts.

The sky was dark outside. He knew that I would be back inside by now. Lombaxes hate water and anything wet. He already knew something was up.

He looked out the window as the rain poured down. Would he stay inside not knowing where I was or would he brave the element and search for me?

He was out the door in a couple of seconds.

He spent hours looking for me. Hours. He went to the villas, the beach, and the jungle, everywhere. Except the place where I was.

It was past midnight when he had finished. He went back the villa that we both occupied. Except I wasn't there.

He didn't even go to bed. He just sat in the chair. Waiting for me. Refusing to fall asleep and retire. Refusing to give up.

Eventually though, he fell asleep.

He woke up the next morning in the same position as before. He noticed that I wasn't there.

He bolted out the door. The ground was wet and mushy from the heavy rain last night. As he walked along the beach he noticed a pathway he missed before.

He walked along the path, pushing the plants out of the way. He came to a clearing where I was.

He came over to me, seeing me tied down and gagged. He saw that I was sleeping. He shook my shoulder.

'Wakey, wakey,' he said. 'What have you said this time?'

He noticed that I was awake now, and he ripped the gag off my mouth.

'OW!' I yelled. 'That hurt.'

'A nice thank you would be nice,' he said as he untied my legs.

'Thanks. I've been here since last night. They tied me down for no reason at all.'

'Oh, really?' he asked as he ripped the duct tape and rope off my arms. 'I find that hard to believe.'

'It's true.' I yelled in pain as I tried to stand up. My tail was still tied in a knot. Remy walked around me and undid it. He then ripped the armor off my body piece by piece, the arms, legs, chest, everywhere so that while it was not around me, it was still glued to the chair even though I was freed from it.

I rushed to the bathroom the second that I was released. Remy stood standing there, shaking his head knowingly.

I was in the bathroom for a full five hours. Showering the dirt and grime of my fur. These people here on holiday wanted us to suffer, and we knew that. We just needed to know how to outsmart them.

'So,' Remy asked as I came out from the bathroom in normal clothes. 'What did you do this time?'

'I didn't do anything!' I shouted. 'Those bastards glued me to the chair because they felt like it.'

'Really?'

'Yes, really.' He obviously wasn't taking me seriously enough.

'Look, on this island is a bunch of bloody blood-thirsty and serial killers. They're not going to have any mercy on us at all. We need to stay focused and find a way off,' I said.

'I thought I told you that we were going to except our fate here and forget everything until they arrived,' Remy said.

'Yes. That was before I found out that they were going to make every second here more torturous.' That wasn't going to happen if I could help it. No way.

'Well,' Remy said, unzipping his armor. 'What do you suggest we do?'

'We try to escape.'

'Yeah. How?' He removed the armor from his back and his arms. 'You've seen how guarded this place is.'

'No. Not like that. We'll get into the run and make it out.'

'I'll think about it,' he said as he removed the last piece of armor from his body. 'First things first, though. You'll need some more armor won't you?'

'There's no way I'm going out there without protection,' I said.

'Right then. We'll then while I have a shower you can wear mine and get a new suit of armor then.' He jumped in the bathroom and the door slid shut. I looked at the armor hanging up. I didn't really want to wear another Lombax's armor, but I didn't have any choice, now did I?

It was later in the day. I purchased new armor, but I felt too lazy to get out of Remy's so I kept it on. We were walking on the beach. It was golden, even more golden then my fur. It was smooth. Impossibly smooth. I closed my eyes. I inhaled through my mussel. It was like paradise.

No. It wasn't. Every person here was a serial killer. Everyone. There were torture chambers here. This was not paradise. This was hell.

We walked over to the villas where a less rough crowd was. It looked better here. We both sat down at a table. We didn't say a word to anyone.

'Oi. You there. Are ye Lombaxes?' I turned around. There was a middle aged guy sitting at the table next to us. He was ordinary looking with black skin and red eyes. I nodded.

'Well I've never seen one before,' he turned the chair around. 'This is interestin'. So who are ye hidin' from?'

'No one,' Remy said bluntly. 'A flip of a blood stained coin landed us here.'

'Ha, ha. That's funny. Well I'm here for a lot of reasons. A lot.'

'What's your name?' I asked.

'Chucks.'

'Why do they call you that?' I had to know. I wish I didn't ask.

'Because that's how I leave me victims. Ye see, I'm a serial killer. After escaping hundreds of prisons and killing thousands of people, I decided this was the best place to be.'

I moved away. He was insane. He then ranted on how he tricked the galactic authorities countless times and how he left bodies somewhere for them to find. The bodies were killed in a different way each day of week. Monday; he burned them. Tuesday; he dismembered them alive. It was too much for me to stand. I was about to walk away when I noticed something.

Those guys.

The gang that kidnapped me and glued me to a chair yesterday. They were heading in our direction.

'I see you escaped,' the Cazar said. 'Well that's not very good, now is it?'

Remy uttered a word which was just about the worst word you could ever say. In some systems you got thrown in jail for it. And he said it to them all.

We were in more hot water then a Japanese tea bag.

'You son of a b-' the Cazar kicked Remy's chair to the ground, sending him down as well. I tried to stand up but they held me down.

'This time, you're going to be in the sea. Your head just above the water. But what happens when the tide comes in?'

He laughed Satanically. I was afraid now.

Remy jumped up suddenly and punched the Cazar in the face. I stood up and kicked one of the humans in the nuts.

I can't describe exactly what happened, but it was chaos. Chairs flying and smashing, people screaming and swearing. Remy had elbowed the unknown species in the neck and in the gut. The other Cazar jumped on top of him and Remy jumped in the air, flipping upside down and landing on a table, breaking it beyond any chance of repair. I was sure that I heard a crunch and the Cazar screamed. I was sure that the table wasn't the only thing broken.

Suddenly my air supply was cut off. The tallest human hooked his arm around my neck and held me high up in the air. I was already seeing black spots.

Then I dropped to the ground. I turned around and saw something.

The human was on the ground, screaming, yelling. He was babbling and screaming the most blood-curdling scream I've heard. He was screaming, 'Get it out! GET IT OUT!'

I saw that Remy was doing something with his hands and muttering something. I wondered what.

The human was now choking and spluttering with unbelievable force. It was horrible to see.

'What the hell is going on here?' I turned around and saw that the Cazar that we met on the first day we came here was standing there. He looked very angry.

One of the people who saw the whole thing near-by explained what happened. The Cazar looked very angry now.

'Who made the first physical move?' he asked. Everyone pointed at the younger Cazar.

'Right then. And who said that word?'

Everyone else pointed at Remy. I swallowed. This was not going to end well.

'Well then,' the Cazar said. 'We told you the rules. And now you broke them. You, black Lombax, and you, Cazar, you're both coming with me somewhere for a lesson.

Remy followed him stone-faced. But I knew he was afraid. It was obvious.

'Wait!' I said. 'He didn't do anything wrong at all!'

'Unless you want to go with him, you'd better not say another word.' I shut up.

He rubbed his hands together. 'Oh this of going to be a lot of fun.'

I shivered.

* * *

Want to know what happens next? Review. More reviews, more speed with the chapter's release.

Also, Remy's "Power". It may be explained. . . . .maybe black magic. . . ?


	17. Poison Crystals

This is going to be another strong-themed chapter again. And thanks to **DanaNightShadeAzimuth**, I was able to continue this chapter due to her strong encouragement all the way over from Canada (far away from where I live!)

Anyway, on with it:

* * *

I went back to my room. There was nothing else I wanted to do. There was nothing else I could do. I was afraid to go out. Danger and death was in every corner of this island. Going out would be suicide.

I just lay on the bed with my armor on. I wondered what Remy was going through right now. We had been through so much. We had to get off this planet. We were going to be in pain one way or another. The only way out way out was the runs. Just more torture. More and more torture.

Why was I here? What did I do deserve to go through all this?

Suddenly the tears came. My body heaved in a great sob and cascade of tears were tricking down my face and on to the bed. What had I done to be torture physical and mentally for weeks? Possibly months? Why was I taken away from my home? From everyone and everything that I loved? What had I done? What had I done to serve it?

'WHAT DID I DO TO DESEVRE THIS?' I shouted at the top of my lungs. I was just lying on the bed; tears escaping from my eyes. I was just wailing and howling. My small frame was shaking with uncontrolled sobs, anger, and anguish.

Finally, I stopped. I shank off into exhausted sleep, my fur still streamed with cold tears.

I don't even know how long I was asleep. When I woke up it was only a little darker than when I feel asleep. I must have been sleeping for at least 24 hours. I sat up. I noticed that I had made a strong dent in the bed where I was lying for 24 hours. I stretched my arms and legs and flicked my tail. I wondered where Remy was.

A few minutes later he came. He was out of breath and his fur was ruffled and his raven eyes were now raven and bright blood red. He collapsed in a chair. I went over to him.

'What happened?' I asked.

'They took me to their dungeon,' he said. 'They put me in an extremely small compartment that slid back. They stretched me by my arms and legs in an X position as far as I could go. The walls molded to my exact shape so that I couldn't move at all. I could barely blink. They left me there for 24 hours.'

'We have to get out of here,' I said.

'We will,' he said loudly. 'I damned won't spend my last few days suffering and been at the mercy of them. We're getting out of here. By the runs.'

'Is there no other way?' I asked.

'None, mate.'

A plan was forming in my head. An extremely dangerous one, but if it worked . . . . . we would be able to get out of this hellish prison.

Remy had gone and placed various messages and notes to the employers of Hurukan, stating that we we're trying to escape and get out of here. Hurukan's exact words were that anyone trying to leave would be put through the runs. Anyone who got out alive was free to go. Maybe we had a hope in hell of making it out in one piece.

All we had to do now was wait . . . .

As it turned out, the wait was very short.

On the second night after we placed the messages to Hurukan's employees, they came for us. They led us to Hurukan's quarters, where he was angrily pacing the room.

'I trusted you,' he said. He was angry but he deceiving appeared to be calm. 'I told you that you could stay here in peace as long as you abided my rules. You broke them. You did exactly what I warned you off.'

We didn't say anything. So far, it was going to plan.

'I am very disappointed in you,' he said as he sighed tiredly. 'But, I have a proposal to make. We can overlook this and move on. I will pass away one day. We're not like you Lombaxes who live for hundreds or even thousands of years. I want you Ratchet, to take over the planet. Run it. Give criminals a place to hide. A place to stay away from the galaxy. Safe. Sound. Unable to harm anyone. Take over my kingdom. I shall give you the keys to the kingdom and you shall be able to rule this place. For infinity.

I shook my head. 'No. We broke your rules. You now have to put us through the Rat Run.'

Hurukan said nothing. His poised figure showed that he was shocked, but his self-esteem did not permit him to show it. 'You are stupid now, and you will die stupid. No one has ever survived this. People who did this sort of things everyday for thrills died there in agony. You will also join them.'

'Whoever gets out of the Rat Run alive is free to leave the island,' Remy said. 'So we have a chance of leaving.'

'Why do you think that no one has left the island yet?' Hurukan asked. 'It was interesting to meet you, but the feeling has passed, like-wise for my feelings for you, Lombaxes.'

He turned to the Cazar. 'Take them away, and put them into the run. Top-level.'

It was beginning. There was no turning back now.

We were about to experience what thousands of people experienced as the last thing they ever did.

They took us to a high place in the mountains. It was protected with barbed wire and solid stones and gleaming raritinum. We weren't going to be escaping any time soon. Not that we wanted to escape though.

The entrance to the run was near-by. It was a thin tube, barely big enough for us to stand in. We each had our own separate tube though.

I was in great fear of what would be inside in the run. I might only have a little bit of pain. I might be in a great amount of pain. I might be in unimaginable agony. I might die.

All of those things were possible, but it was up to me to decide which one I was going to go through.

'Are you ready?' Remy asked me.

I gulped. 'No. But I'm not going to back out now.'

'Good.'

The tubes slid shut. A second later, trap doors beneath our feet popped up and we fell down them into nothingness.

We were falling. We were still in the tubes though. I could barely see him through the blackness.

I had finally landed. I had landed in water. Water that was freezing cold.

I noticed that Remy had also fallen into water, except his was boiling hot.

There was a see through wall separating us, but the top of the shaft was unblocked, so we wouldn't drown, but we had no chance of climbing it.

'What should we do?' I shouted. My armor was doing nothing to protect me from the freezing water. Nothing at all.

'How about we bleeding find a way out?'

I started frantically searching for a way out. There was none. I hung my head in defeat.

There. At the bottom of the pool was the answer. It was a button. A single red button.

Bearing the cold I dived in and pressed the button.

The wall between me and Remy separated and the cold and warm water mixed together forming a nice luke-warm bath.

Before we could enjoy it, however, the water was drained and a panel slid back to reveal a narrow walkway. I ran inside.

It twisted back and forth and up and down. I had no idea which way to go or what to do.

A voice was spoken through some sort of speakers or hidden microphone.

'You have half an hour to find a way out of this maze,' the voice said. I recognized it. It was the former voice of Emperor Tachyon. 'If you do not, then the entire tube will be filled with nerve gas that will kill you slowly. I would love dearly to describe the pain of such a death, but frankly, I don't have the imagination. Enjoy searching!'

Oh no.

After twenty-eight minutes of searching I sat down on the stone hard ground. There was no way out. We couldn't even find the way back to the way we came. Tears trickled down my face. We were dead.

'I found it.' I heard Remy's voice come from a few meters away. He was spinning part of the wall with his finger to the left. The panel slid back to reveal the exit. We hoped in just as the gas was released. The tiny room inside has in fact an elevator. It descended for ten seconds then the panel opened up.

We were in a large room. We saw that it was connected to more rooms. Some with closed doors, some without.

We noticed that there were two others here. One was a Cazar, the other was an Unknown species. They were from before, when we were attacked. I gritted my teeth.

'Okay now,' said Tachyon's voice from a speaker. 'The keys out of here lie hidden in these rooms. But the only way to get to them is if you work together without killing yourself. There are four keys in these rooms. Should any of you get killed, then that leaves more chance of you getting out alive. Either work together, or feed of the benefits of another person's dead body. Your choice.'

We looked at them. We knew that they hated us. We knew that they could kill us before we had the chance to do anything to escape. I swallowed.

None of them said a single word. They were just staring at us; not saying a single word. Me and Remy walked to the nearby door. Our eyes fixed upon them. I opened the door and then slammed it shut behind us.

I turned around.

The room was a giant pit of syringes.

Everywhere I looked, there were more. They were all filled with bright red and yellow pussy liquids. I felt sick already.

'Let's start looking,' Remy said. 'Our armor should protect us from the poisons.'

I nodded, too scared to speak.

We waded through the pit, searching for the key. It was protected up to my face, though if I was injected with poison that would be the end of everything.

I kicked a bunch of syringes filled with purple liquid away with my foot. They all flew in different directions. I got on my hands and knees, digging through the deep masses of poisons.

I saw it. Surrounded by a bunch of white syringes was the key. It was a common flat access card. I picked it up.

We had found it.

Suddenly the door burst open. The Cazar was the standing there with the unknown spieces. He saw that I had the key. As he stopped himself from falling, the unknown species attempted to push him in the pit, but only succeed in falling in himself. He landed on a syringe that was sticking straight up and that was filled with vile purple liquid. His eyes bulged for five to seven seconds then he lay still. His own partner had killed him.  
We rushed through the syringes, struggling to maintain speed. If one of us fell face first on a syringe, that would be the end of it. We had to work together to live.

We reached the end of the room. I opened the door with a sigh of relief. We went in, and slammed the door behind us.

We were standing in a large carven; one that was completely covered in rocks and crystal. The top of the carven had solid stone spikes coming from it, dripping slime down on

'Well what now?' I asked.

'I'm damned working on it,' Remy snapped. 'Give me a second.'

'We might not have a second,' I said.

Then there was a grinding sound. The sound of rusty gears clicking and spinning.

Then the walls started descending, the spikes almost stretching out towards us.

'Where's the bloody key?' I shouted, looking for the key franticly, turning my head sharply in every direction, the tears that were coming to my eyes were starting to block my vision, knowing that this may be the final moments of my life. I had gone through so much, only to get this as a reward?

'There.'

I opened my eyes. Remy was pointing at the crystals imbedded in the wall. I looked closer and saw that the card was imbedded along with it, slightly sticking out, barely visible.

There was a hammer and chisel on the ground near-by. I grabbed them and starting smashing the crystal to bits, weakening it slowly.

The walls were coming down and more and more quickly, making it difficult to stand up.

My hands were in excessive pain from cutting the crystal but finally I could dislodge it from the wall. The walls were slowly but surely coming down on us, threatening to squash us to kingdom come.

I ran over to the door and swiped the access card, my hands trembling with fear of an inhumane death.

The door then opened. The walls were forcing me onto my knees. Remy ran over and dived through the door. I followed just as the wall squashed down and crushing everything inside to bits. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Where were we now though?

I stood up. We were in a small corridor that branched off into two pathways. There was a small platform that each of each could stand on. When we did the doors in front of us opened and we entered them. The doors slid shut behind us with a vicious hiss.

In front of me was a pathway leading through a lush jungle, evil looking plants, crimson red and a sick hue of green in colour, each of them looking more and more evil than the one before that. The heat was extremely high and I was sweating within a few mere seconds of being in the dome.

I looked through the glass wall separating us and I saw that Remy was standing in a malevolent looking machine, that gripped onto each one of his limbs and secured him tightly across his body.

A voice came through the speakers.

'If you want to both get out of this stage alive you will have to get to the end of the dome without dying. If you do not, the machine will twist and pull at each of your friend's limbs and body until each and every one is broken.

'Be wary, the ordinary toxic plants contain up to five neurotransmitters, the plants in here can contain up to fifty thousand neurotransmitters. I would like to describe the pain of such a death, but in all honesty, I don't have the imagination.

'Not only that, there are hundreds of deadly and fatal vines, spiders, various bugs, slimy creatures that will tear you apart limb from limb slowly. You will feel each and every second of the pain. I assure you.

'Good luck.' Then I heard the evil laughter echoing throughout the dome as I lost almost every bit of hope left inside me.

Almost.

I was going to go through hell once again, but this time maybe I would never emerge from the path of death.

* * *

If you don't want to wait for the next chapter, do review quickly.

Also, if you want any info (my age, first name, PSN ID, etc) PM me. I'll be happy to give it to you if you're nice.

If you think that I'm going too strong themed, do let me know!


	18. Methods Of Pain

'Be wary, the ordinary toxic plants contain up to five neurotransmitters, the plants in here can contain up to fifty thousand neurotransmitters. I would like to describe the pain of such a death, but in all honesty, I don't have the imagination.'

The words were tumbling in my mind, each one pulling at my brain, paralyzing me with fear. I swallowed. There was no way I could do this. No way at all.

But I had to.

I took a step forward. Vines and planters were in every single centimetre of the dome. Overripe berries, glistening with juice were hanging from a tree near-by. They looked fake. Unnatural. Toxic. Warning me to stay away.

A blue creeper hung in front of me, spikes sticking out of it with needles. I resisted the urge to brush it away and I bent low under it.

An ugly tree was nearby, corkscrewing and twisting in unnatural ways, straining to break free from the ground like an angry dog. I stepped on some mushrooms, the yellow pus starting oozing out of them and onto the grass.

I came to the flower beds. They all looked lovely, but if I looked closely I could see they all were fake. There were brown spikes hiding beneath the flowers, with green slime on each one of them that I knew to be toxic.

I came to a large tree, the bark was unnaturally brown and white. I saw that the white was the spider webs that covered the tree.

I couldn't take it anymore. I started running, running as fast as I could to get away from all this, all this poison and death. I couldn't bear it any longer.

I suddenly tripped and fell face first on the ground. My face was centimeters away from a vile looking spit of purple nettles, each of them even more looking than the previous, each of them just radiated with death and pain.

I scrambled to my feet, and continued running, jumping over a river of boiling green pus, reaching the ledge by centimeters. I almost lost my balance on the edge, but barely managed to keep it as I held my ground.

There.

The end of the dome was in sight, the door was a few meters ahead of me, I ran towards it.

I felt myself tumble to the ground. A vine creeper had wrapped itself along my leg, latching onto it tightly. It started pulling on my leg, dragging me back to the river of pus. I refused to be dragged and I got back on my feet and I started pulling with my leg.

Centimetre by centimetre I succeed as the vine knew it had lost and let me leg go. I fell backwards and into the doorway. I smashed my hand against the button and the doorway to the dome hissed shut and another door opened and I saw Remy there, rubbing his wrists and neck painfully. I grabbed him and held him tightly for a moment then pushed him back. He smiled back. He was also at a loss for words.

'Let's get the bloody hell out here,' I said as we ran out the door and onto the next section.

We were in an unusual room. One with a only a small basket that was only big enough to barely fit us, and a large hole in the ceiling. I went over to the net. It was filled with ash and glass.

'What are we supposed to do?' Remy asked.

I surveyed the room for a minute or two. I finally realized what we were supposed to do.

'We have to swing that net up through that hole in the ceiling,' I said.

'So we need to get enough speed to be able to get there?' Remy asked.

'Yes. But we'll have to unlock the chains first with keys.'

'And I thought I was the first one,' Remy said. He got on his knees and sifted through the ash and glass. A few minutes later he held the rusty key in his hand triumphantly. He unlocked the chains and it started getting into motion.

We both climbed in and forcing it to move. After a few minutes it was swinging like mad, faster and faster and higher and higher.

Finally we were able to swing through the hole in the ceiling and land on the next level. We barely made it though.

'Okay, so what next?' Remy asked.

'We go forward,' I said. 'We keep going.'

'Excellent planning.'

We moved through the rooms, knowing that each second we kept moving forward decreased the time that we would have to be here.

We came to a room with nothing but a table and a various cups on them and a single chair. The speakers blared to life.

'One of you will drink the contents of one of the five cups. Each one contains a sort of poison, ranging from near fatal to harmless. There is a cure, however. To advance to must unlock the antidote through a puzzle and then give the other the cure. Good luck. Oh, and don't kill yourselves.'

Evil laughter shot throughout the room. I grew hot with anger. They thought it was a game. They considered it a mere fun date. They were wrong. It was a torturous bloodbath and they put us in the very middle of it.

'You bastards!' I shouted, yelling at speakers, calling them every single swear word I could think of and swearing my head off at them. There was no way I was going to tolerate this. I picked up the chair and effortlessly threw it across the room at the speakers and shattered them to bits.

I turned around. Remy was leaning on the machine, not saying anything, a smug smile on his face.

'What the heck is the matter?' I shouted at him. 'What's the smile?'

'Because mate, I have this.' He held up a blue vile. 'Which, I believe is the antidote.'

I breathed a sigh of relief; he had found it.

'Okay then, which one should I choose?' I stared at the cups of poison on the table, wondering which one to swallow. My furry hand hovered over the first one, then the second and then the fourth. Which one? The decision would either let me live, or kill me.

I took the fifth cup. With trembling hands I raised it to my lips. I was about to take a sip. I closed my eyes.

'Stop!' I took the cup away. 'What?'

'Look at the all the cups carefully.' I set my gaze on them all. I finally saw it.

'All of them have the exact same poison in them,' Remy said. 'He's tricked us.'

'What do we do then?' I asked.

Remy thought for a few seconds first, and then he poured the entire antidote inside one of the cups, mixing it together.

'Now drink it,' he said. I raised it to my lips and gulped the whole thing down. It tasted vile. Viler than anything I've ever tasted before. But I swallowed it whole. As I did, the door whipped open, allowing us to press on.

The next room was completely covered with barbed wire. Across, backwards and twisting upwards. With a shock I realized that some of the wire had red drops of liquid hanging off it.

We ducked under the wire, ever so careful as not to touch it at all, for even the slightest trip or false step would be the end of us both.

I was proceeding extremely well. I ran ahead and with one final jump and twist I managed to get through the barbed wire.

I turned around and saw that Remy was still inside the barbed wire. It had warped around his legs and his waist and he couldn't at all move.

I saw that the wire was curling around his neck. In a few seconds he wouldn't be able to breathe.

There was a pair of pliers on the ground, surrounded by a collection of axes and shears and a rusty saw.

I picked up the shears. I knew that I had one and only one shot and I threw the shears so that they spun through the air and sliced the barbed wire in pieces around Remy's head. He then crawled through the broken pieces and to where I was standing.

'Thanks,' he said in a raspy voice. 'Again.'

'Don't mention it,' I said, as Remy took his hands off my shoulder and started walking away. I followed him.

As we came through the next door we entered a room with a cage with thick bars on it. There was a hole in front of us. Two others were in a cage opposite.

'The final part of the run is the most deadly,' said the voice from the speakers. 'You two teams must work together to survive. The team that fails this test will suffer the consequences.

'You both teams have ten minutes of slice, cut, or take off as much weight from your bodies as possible. This includes flesh, hair, and bone.

'The team that has taken the most off will go through. The one that doesn't, will die.

'Scissors, axes, knifes, saws, pliers, and other instruments will be available for you to use. Also, may I suggest that use add liquid to the weight? Preferably red liquid. . . . . . . .

'Good luck sawing!'


	19. Free Once Again

This is going to be the last chapter that I will write for this fanfic, so so with it. .. .

* * *

'You both teams have ten minutes of slice, cut, or take off as much weight from your bodies as possible. This includes flesh, hair, and bone.'

I shook my head. This couldn't be happening.

'. . . . Scissors, axes, knifes, saws, pliers, and other instruments will be available for you to use. Also, may I suggest that use add liquid to the weight? Preferably red liquid. . . . . . . .'

'It's a trick,' I said to Remy. 'The only way out is by sawing off our flesh, and we'll die before we do. Either there's no way out or there's a trick somewhere.'

'Ah, a riddle,' Remy spat. 'I love riddles, especially when it's to do with sawing flesh of.'

'We'd better get started,' I said.

'So we'll start sawing our arms off now?'

'No. Follow suit.' I started ripping my armor off, piece by piece by piece. I then dumped it in the hole. That would surely add to the weight.

Remy did the same thing as well, adding double the weight as before.

'Now's the tricky part,' I said. I started ripping off pieces of my fur, and cutting it off. It hurt, but we'd be in much more pain if we didn't do this. Remy then also started ripping his fur off.

We took everything off. Our shoes, armor, everything without taking any flesh off. I looked at the other scale and saw that one of the Cazars had sawed the tip of his finger off and threw it in. Their weight was much more than ours.

I looked the timer. 30 seconds left. We had 30 seconds to saw off some part of our flesh of we were going to die.

'I can't do it,' I said, getting to my knees. 'I can't. We're going to die now. It's the end.'

Remy slowly shook his head. 'No,' he said, ' it's not.'

I raised my head. 'What?' 20 seconds.

'Look at this,' he said. 'The Cragmites put in a tracking device in my skin.' He plucked in out. It was a small round metal ball. A small round metal ball that was heavy. 10 seconds.

He tossed it in, sending it to the bottom of the scales. The weight counter the Cazar's the scale tipped in our favour. We did it.

The floor beneath us then dropped and we fell into oblivion, before finally hitting the water and falling again and again and again, tumbling through a black blaze of nothing.

Finally we hit something solid, and water came crashing on top of us, crushing us.

I closed my eyes and waited for something to happen. I wasn't going to spend my time suffering.

The water stop.

I sat up and opened my eyes. We were in a cave on the beach. The water was visible near-by. We had done it. We had survived Hurukan's death trap and passed with flying colours.

'You're alive.'

I turned around. Hurukan was there, a bland expression on his face.

'I suppose so,' I said.

He slowly shook his head and walked away without saying a word.

Hours later after we had a shower and gotten cleaned up we were standing in the flight deck, waiting for a ship to arrive.

It was a beautiful scene. The beach the crisp sand and the lush jungles gave the island the impression that it was a tropical paradise.

Hurukan was standing near-by. Remy was somewhere else and I was feeling rather uncomfortable.

'You did well,' he said, his voice giving nothing away. 'You did better than I've ever seen anyone do.'

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

'I know what you're after,' Hurukan said. 'You're after them so they don't take the clock for my use. Even though I can't stop you, I can advise you not to stop them.'

'Why?' I demanded. 'But you're right; you can't stop us.'

'I am reasonable person. If I wanted I could kill you both with a painful execution and no one would care. Thankfully for you both I am a honest person, and I'll tell you something.

'They escaped from an asylum on a near-by planet that holds the criminally insane. It's called Aseer Asylum. They also are currently holding other criminals and the owners of DreadZone*.

'Go there and find out what they were doing. It'll help you on your quest.'

*Read DanaNightshadeAzimuth's story for more info!

'Also,' he said as the ship landed, 'you can't ever come back here and make trouble for me, or make trouble at all. I am doing the universe a favour, taking all these criminals in. This planet – in it's own way – is a prison. Let it be.'

I nodded, again not trusting myself.

We were given a ship that looked exactly like the Aphloein, and me and Remy got in it, away from this planet and away from that world forever, never feeling more happier and safer in a long time.

Hurukan raised his hand as we flew off. Was it a symbol of sadness, remorse, friendship, or anger?

Who knew?

Or who cared?

I knew that we would never return to this planet and I was right about that. But what I was wrong about was that I thought that this was the end. Everything would be easy and a cake walk from here.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

'Where do we go?' Remy asked. 'Back to Apogee Space Station?'

'No,' I said. 'We're going to a place called Aseer Asylum. . . . . . . . .'

THE END.

TO BE CONTINUED. .. .

* * *

**I have been writing this story over the period of eight months and I love it, and I have so much to say.**

**Thanks to Mike H. Swordsman289, and my newest fan, DanaNightshadeAziumth, who really loves this much more than she needs to!**

**If any of you want my author photos, IGN, IG, or PSN IDs, please ask and I'll give.**

**I am also running a fansite of R&C, I've gotten a few people to join including DNA who love it, so please feel free to ask.**

**There will be another fanfiction of this triology, but I won't be writing it for a while, but reviews and PMs will help shorten the length.**

**Thanks everyone again, your fellow R&C fanboy and writer from down under:**

**RR.**


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